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THE 



CHURCH IN SCOTLAND 



A HISTORY OF 



ITS ANTECEDENTS, ITS CONFLICTS 
AND ITS ADVOCATES 



FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDED TIMES TO THE 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH 



BY THE 

Rev. JAMES C 7 MOFFAT, D.D. 

Professor of Church History, Princeton Theological Seminary 




PHILADELPHIA 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 

1334 CHESTNUT STREET 






COPYRIGHT, 1882, BY 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers and Electrolypers, Philada. 



PREFACE. 



History of the early Irish and Scottish 
churches lay, until recently, in a state of 
chaos. A primitive period of intelligent sim- 
plicity had left a few honest records of itself. 
But a long succeeding time of greater preten- 
sion had covered those records up with more 
showy fable. Romish writers of the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, conceiving of no ecclesias- 
tical system but their own, in recounting events 
of a preceding and different state of things 
misrepresented them, perhaps unintentionally. 
Blunders of ignorance mingled with the bias 
of prejudice to pervert truth, and truthful state- 
ments of fact were thrust into the background 
by the more exciting wonders of legendary 
lore. In many cases the original narratives, 
after serving as the basis, of some fabulous life 
of a saint, were suffered to perish. Those that 
survived were subsequently perverted in the 
application made of them to suit a fictitious sys- 
tem of history, constructed by John of Fordun 
in the fourteenth century, further developed by 



4 PREFACE. 

Hector Boece in the fifteenth, and adhered 
to by subsequent historians until very recent 
years. 

The period over which this obscurity lies 
deepest is from the first planting of Christianity 
in the British Isles to the eleventh century ; the 
churches upon which it rests are the old British, 
the Irish and the Scottish churches, and deepest 
of all upon the last. 

Recent historical research and criticism have 
been hardly less wonderfully successful in this 
field than in that of Oriental archaeology. Al- 
though Thomas Jones made a beginning in it 
more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and 
was followed by Lord Hailes and others at long 
intervals, the really effective work belongs 
to men of the present generation. It began 
in a careful comparison and discriminative 
treatment of all the ancient books on the sub- 
ject, resulting in critical editions of the more 
important under the light of that comparison. 
In both lines, the prior credit is due to certain 
scholars of the Irish Archaeological and Celtic 
Society, among whom conspicuously appear 
John O'Donovan, LL.D., James Kenthorne 
Todd, D. D., and William Reeves, D. D. Con- 
temporaneously, in Scotland, Dr. Forbes, bishop 
of Brechin, Joseph Robertson and William F. 
Skene and others entered the same field. 

Mr. Skene's early works were of the utmost 



1' RE FACE. 5 

value to the whole enterprise in his editions of 
the four ancient Books of Wales, of the Chron- 
icles of the Picts and Scots and other early 
memorials of Scottish history, and of Fordun's 
chronicle of the Scottish nation. Such works 
were accompanied or followed by carefully- 
written monographs on certain epochs, legal 
questions and great historical personages, in 
the list of which Todd's Saint Patrick and 
Reeves's edition of Adamnan's Life of Columba 
stand eminent as masterpieces of historical 
criticism. 

A fourth effort was to combine all the discov- 
eries of research in a consecutive narrative, with 
every statement supported by critically-defined 
evidences. So should the whole history be 
lifted beyond question out of the region of 
legend. With this view, Dr. Thomas M'Lauch- 
Ian in 1865 published his Early Scottish Church. 
He was perhaps too early, for the progress of 
research went on. John Hill Burton, in the 
first volume of his general history of Scotland, 
issued in 1867, found important alterations ne- 
cessary for his second edition of 1872. And 
now William F. Skene, in his last work, which 
he calls Celtic Scotland, a History of Ancient Alban, 
covers the whole of that bewildering period of 
North British existence with a thoroughly search- 
ing narrative, which if not satisfactory on all points 
certainly distances all competition yet in the field. 



O PREFACE. 

The last volume of his three octavos appeared 
at the close of 1880. 

It is presumed that many people would glad- 
ly become acquainted with the facts thus elicited 
who have not leisure to follow the careful and 
often-retracing footsteps of criticism. To that 
class of readers is the present volume addressed, 
in the hope that it may contribute to a popular 
understanding of the real character of an inter- 
esting but hitherto greatly misunderstood por- 
tion of the Christian Church. 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK FIRST. 
ANCIENT PERIOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Religion of Heathen Scotland 17 

CHAPTER II. 
Introduction of the Gospel 23 

CHAPTER III. 
Christianity Established 33 

CHAPTER IV. 

NlNIAN 39 

CHAPTER V. 
Palladius 42 

CHAPTER VI. 
Patricius . 47 

CHAPTER VII. 
Patrick's Teaching 54 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Church of Strathclyde 69 

CHAPTER IX. 
Columba 74 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 

PAGE 

LlNDISFARNE 88 

CHAPTER XL 
Decline of Iona 96 

CHAPTER XII. 
Constructing the Kingdom of Scotland 108 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Macbeth . 119 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Malcolm Canmore 124 



BOOK SECOND. 

PERIOD OF PAPAL RULE. 



CHAPTER I. 
St. Margaret the Queen 137 

CHAPTER II. 
The Sons of St. Margaret 144 

CHAPTER III. 
Introduction of the Romish Church Government ... 150 

CHAPTER IV. 
Introduction of Romish Monasticism 160 

CHAPTER V. 
Papal Scotland. — National Consolidation 174 

CHAPTER VI. 
Scotland submits to be a Romish Province 184 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Extinction of the Scoto-Saxon Dynasty 193 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Scotland's Relations to the Papacy during the War . . 206 

CHAPTER IX. 
Papal Relations of Scotland under Restored Independence. 225 

CHAPTER X. 
Progress of Education. — Rise of the Scottish Universities. 237 

CHAPTER XI. 
Closing Summary 253 



BOOK THIRD. 

CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REFORMATION. 



CHAPTER I. 
Decline of Clerical Piety 263 

CHAPTER II. 
Clerical Morality 272 

CHAPTER III. 
Truth and Error 287 

CHAPTER IV. 
John Major 296 

CHAPTER V. 
Patrick Hamilton 303 

CHAPTER VI. 
Cardinal Beaton 312 



10 CONTENTS. 

BOOK FOURTH. 

THE REFORMATION CONFLICT. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

George Wish art and Cardinal Beaton 341 

CHAPTER II. 
Alliance with France . . . 367 

CHAPTER III. 
The Lords of the Congregation 383 

CHAPTER IV. 
Mary of Lorraine and the People 400 

CHAPTER V. 
John Knox 420 

CHAPTER VI. 
The French Invasion 429 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Victory 439 



MAPS. 



BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS Facing Title. 

NORTH BRITAIN IN THE TIME OF COLUMBA . Facing 75 

NORTH BRITAIN IN THE TENTH CENTURY. . " 119 

ROMISH BISHOPRICS " 155 

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BOOK FIRST 



ANCIENT PERIOD. 



The Church in Scotland. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE RELIGION OF HEATHEN SCOTLAND. 

NORTH BRITAIN, in her most ancient 
recorded times, was a forest, and her re- 
ligion a religion of the woods. Her people, like 
those of South Britain and the neighboring isles, 
were of Celtic stock, and, although called by 
Roman writers Caledonians, were comprehend- 
ed under the common classification of Britons. 
Like the primitive Hebrews, Hindoos, Greeks, 
and perhaps all nations of earth's early history, 
they worshiped in the open air, the temple being 
only a space designated by some religious cere- 
mony. Among the Britons it was a dark grove, 
and never reached a more formal structure than 
that of a grove enclosing a circle of stones sur- 
rounding the sacred area, sometimes with an 
avenue of approach bounded in like manner, 
and within the circle a broad flat stone, called the 
" cromlech," supported, like a table, by three or 
more stones set on edge. In some parts of 
Scotland these structures have been removed 

2 17 



I 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

to make way for the plough, Still, especially in 
the Central Highlands, a great number of them 
have been allowed to remain. 1 

Their priests, called " Druids, probably from 
two Celtic words signifying " spokesmen for 
God," observed a Nature-worship, after the 
style of the Vedic in India and pre-Homeric in 
Greece, but which also had some features pe- 
culiar to itself. They rejected the worship of 
images, and taught the doctrine of one supreme 
God, but not to the exclusion of other divine 
beings regarded with an inferior degree of ven- 
eration. They believed in man's responsibility 
to God, in the immortality of his soul, in his 
liability to sin, and in rewards and punishments 
ever changing in future states of transmigration. 
Of God the chief emblem was the Sun, the 
giver of light and warmth and the supporter of 
life. To him, and to fire as a secondary sign, 
were the most solemn ceremonies of worship 
paid. Annual festivals were observed in his 
honor. The Beltane, meaning perhaps " the fire 
of Bel," was lighted upon high places on the first 
day of May and on Midsummer Eve, accompa- 
nied by sacrifice. 2 A similar solemnity was 
observed on the last of October or first of 
November. 

A mark of Oriental origin was also retained 

1 Gazetteer of Scotland, Introd., p. 52. 

2 Statistical Account of Scotland, iii. 105, v. 84, and xi. 620. 



THE RELIGION OE HEATHEN SCOTLAND. IQ 

in the religious feeling with which the serpent 
was regarded. The Druids are said to have 
attached great religious virtue to the serpent's 
egg. Veneration was also paid to certain trees, 
especially the oak — to mountains, springs and 
rivers. Spiritual beings were conceived of as 
animating- matter and as disembodied in the air. 
To certain plants a mystic and sacred character 
was ascribed, as to the mistletoe when found 
growing upon the oak, which was believed to 
be an antidote for poisons and a cure for all 
diseases. It was cut with ceremonies of mys- 
terious solemnity. "A Druid clothed in white 
mounted the tree, and with a knife of gold cut 
the mistletoe, which was received by another 
standing on the ground in his white robe." In 
their worship, as in most other ancient religions, 
the principal elements were sacrifice and prayer. 
But sacrifice, as practiced by Druids, must have 
been appalling. Their favorite victims were hu- 
man beings. Criminals, after imprisonment for 
years, were offered as sacrifices by being im- 
paled and burned in great fires. They also 
" immolated prisoners taken in war." On cer- 
tain great occasions, making a gigantic image 
of wickerwork, they would fill it with men and 
animals, and burn it with all its contents in one 
terrible holocaust. Sometimes, inflicting the fatal 
wounds in such a manner as not to produce in- 
stant death, the priests deliberately took their 



20 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

auguries from the contortions of the dying ag~ 
ony of the victim. 

Druidical discipline was severe, and was main- 
tained by punishments of various degrees. One 
of the most remarkable was what may be called 
excommunication from their sacrificial observ- 
ances, implying also prohibition from all civil 
rights and privileges — equal, in short, to expul- 
sion from the nation. 

Druids were also the learned class of the 
people, and used an alphabetical system of 
writing consisting of seventeen letters — most 
likely the primitive Greek alphabet derived from 
Phoenicia. Their legal and religious instruc- 
tions and liturgies, however, were not read, but 
recited, and were in verse. Only in common 
business was writing employed ; their sacred 
literature was to be treasured in the human 
mind, not written. Such was the amount of it 
that a novitiate of twenty years was ordinarily 
spent in getting full command of it by memory. 
For, besides religion, it treated of law, of med- 
icine and of astronomy, or rather, perhaps, of 
astrology. 

Superstitious in their religion and cruel in some 
of its observances, the Druids were yet careful 
practical correctors of morals and gave much 
attention to moral and natural philosophy. 
Within their own order they were of three 
classes, as bards or poets, prophets and com- 



THE RELIGION OF HEATHEN SCOTLAND. 21 

mon Druids. Diodorus makes only two classes 
by including the prophets under the head of 
bards. A president of the whole was elected 
by suffrage of the rest, and invested with su- 
preme authority. 

Druid women also were of three classes, some 
being married and living with their families ; 
others married, but devoting themselves to long 
periods of religious seclusion ; and a third class 
being under vows of perpetual celibacy. 

Caesar, about the middle of the first century 
before Christ, described this sacerdotal order 
of the forest as being then held in profound 
reverence among the Celtic people of Britain 
and of Central Gaul, and stated that the Druids 
of Britain excelled in the learning upon which 
their power reposed. Welsh tradition affirms 
that they brought it from the far East, whence 
they had come with the Kumri (or Cymri), that 
branch of the Celtic race to which the Welsh 
belong. Their religion was not accepted by 
all the nations of Gaul, only by those of the 
centre and west, who received their instruction 
from Britain. In the British Isles the most 
authoritative of their seats of learning was 
Anglesey, on the coast of Wales. From that 
island they were extirpated by Suetonius Pau- 
linus in the sixty-first year of the Christian era. 
Those who escaped the slaughter fled, it is 
thought, to the Isle of Man, and thence, 



22 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

following the fortunes of the independent Celts, 
found refuge among the adherents of their faith 
in Ireland and Scotland. 

The progress of Roman arms and imperial 
edicts continued to diminish the territory of 
Druidical rule, and Christianity, following after, 
impaired its moral power. In the next three 
hundred years it declined even under its own 
laws and among its own free tribes, until it 
became little more than a public superstition. 
Its later feebleness prepared the way for the 
accession of Christianity. Many Druidical 
practices and beliefs, however, continued long 
afterward to retain their hold upon the Celtic 
people. Some were converted into the num- 
ber of Christian observances, with a real or 
fancied Christian meaning. From neither Irish 
nor Scottish Celtic populations are they en- 
tirely eradicated to this day. 

Caesar, Bel. Gall., vi. 13-18; Pliny, Nat. Hist., xvi. 95 ; xxiv. 62; 
xxx. 4; Gazetteer of Scotland, Introd., 52; Pictorial History of Eng- 
land, b. i. chap. ii. ; G. Higgins, Celtic Druids. 



CHAPTER II. 

INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL. 

THERE is no record of the means whereby 
Christianity was planted in Britain, for the 
traditions and disguised guesses recounted by 
early annalists cannot command belief. Bede 1 
mentions briefly a story about a British king 
named Lucius applying to Pope Eleutherus to 
be made a Christian, and that he obtained his 
pious request. Nennius 2 and the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle* mention it still more briefly, each in 
one short sentence. Geoffrey of Monmouth, 4 
after his own fashion, spins a pretty little 
romance out of it. Gildas, 5 who is older than 
the oldest of them, makes no allusion to the 
story, and, from the way in which he speaks of 
Christianity as slowly dawning upon Britain, 
most likely had never heard of it, notwith- 
standing Geoffrey's complimentary reference 
to his treatment of the subject. The story of 
Donald, king of the Scots, making a similar 
application to Pope Victor I. is a baseless fic- 



1 Hist. Ecc, b. i. ch. 4, 2 Hist., ch. 22. 3 Under A. D. 167. 

4 British Hist., b. iy. chs. 19, 20; v. i. 5 Hist., chs. 8, 9. 

6 Innes, Civil and Eccles. History of Scotland, p. 14. 

23 



24 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

The earliest reliable mention of the gospel 
in Britain belongs to the beginning of the third 
century, and is by Tertullian. The reference, 
however, is merely incidental, giving no definite 
information as to dates or agencies, and is con- 
tained within a somewhat boastful statement of 
the extent to which Christianity had been ac- 
cepted. Yet it testifies, beyond all doubt, to 
the fact that the gospel had gained some foot- 
hold in the island before the date at which it 
was written. The passage occurs in Tertul- 
lian's answer to the Jews, where he zealously 
defends the position that Christ has come, and 
is as follows : " As, for instance, by this time the 
various races of the Gaetulians, and manifold 
confines of the Moors, all the limits of the 
Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, 
and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to 
the Romans, but subjugated to Christ, and of 
the Sarmatians, and Dacians, and Germans, and 
Scythians, and of many remote nations, and of 
provinces and islands, many to us unknown, 
and which we can scarce enumerate. In all 
which places the name of Christ who is already 
come reigns, as of Him before whom the gates 
of all cities have been opened." 1 In the next 
sentence it is added : " In all these places dwell 
the ' people ' of the name of Christ." A few 
sentences farther on he writes : " Christ's name 

1 Answer to the Jews, ch. vii. 



INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL. 2$ 

is extended everywhere, believed everywhere, 
worshiped by all the above-enumerated na- 
tions." 

A similarly incidental remark of Origen, 1 
written in or soon after the year 246, implies 
the same. " When did Britain, previous to the 
coming of Christ, agree to worship the one 
God ? When the Moors ? When the whole 
world ? Now, however, through the Church, 
all men call upon the God of Israel." 

By both writers it is presumed to be an 
undisputed fact that people in Britain had at 
least as early as the beginning of the third 
century adopted the religion of Christ. Both 
wrote of what existed in their own time. Com- 
munication between Rome and the provinces 
was then free and frequent. Over excellent 
Roman roads and upon abundant Roman ship- 
ping military forces and supplies were passing 
continually and news was transmitted without 
impediment. 

No distinction existed then between England 
and Scotland, the whole island being called by 
the common name Britain. The people lived 
in separate tribes and governments, and were 
known by different local names ; but Roman 
dominion had createcj a division of the whole 
into two great sections which has existed ever 
since, though not always in the same propor- 

1 On Ezekiel, Homily iv., xiv. 59. 



26 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

tions any more than for the same causes. In 
the latter years of the first century the bound- 
ary-line had been drawn between the Clyde 
and Forth. All north of that line remained 
independent and British. South of it were 
conquered provinces. Some of these were 
precariously held, but after the victories of 
Agricola it could not be said that any British 
nation south of the Clyde and Forth had been 
unvisited by the Romans. The remark of Ter- 
tullian, therefore, asserts that Christianity had, 
in his time, been carried north of that line. 
Tertullian is prone to color highly, but there 
is no ground for charging him with falsehood ; 
and when he says that there were, when he 
wrote, parts of Britain subdued to Christ 
which were not subject to Roman arms, we 
cannot take him to mean less than that Chris- 
tians were to be found among the independent 
Britons north of the Roman line. 

By what means Christianity had been carried 
into Britain is nowhere directly stated by any 
reliable authority ; but certain probabilities are 
obvious. More than a hundred and fifty years 
before these words of Tertullian were written 
Roman armies had been maintained in the land. 
Dispersed over it in camps, many of which have 
left their names to the towns that grew up 
around them and under their protection, many 
of the men necessarily came into acquaintance 



INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL. 2*J 

with the natives. In the second century earnest 
Christians were soldiers in the Roman legions. 
Britons were also enlisted in the army, and 
marched to other provinces or to the capital. 
Whilst some of those who returned doubtless 
brought evil with them, others may have learned 
Christ and brought back with them the message 
of the gospel. From the nature of the Christian 
impulse we may safely infer that those who had 
learned of Christ did not remain silent amidst 
a heathen people visibly suffering the penalties 
of a cruel religion. Much may have been done 
by humble pious soldiers, whose names were 
never known to history, because they labored 
not by public efforts, but quietly, each in con- 
versation with his own little circle of acquaint- 
ances. Nor is it likely that, among the Christian 
men who in various departments of business 
must have visited and resided for years in Brit- 
ain, not one devoted himself of more set pur- 
pose to the work of the missionary. It was a 
period of great activity in missionary enterprise, 
when speaking for Christ was not confined to 
the clergy. The British churches in after years 
bore marks in doctrine and worship, as well as 
in the ministry, of having been planted in an 
age not far from that of the apostles. 

It was the part of Scotland lying south of the 
Clyde and the Forth which participated in that 
benefit, though not to the exclusion of some 



28 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

conversions farther north on the eastern coast. 
Agricola achieved his victories in that part of 
the island between the years 81 and 85 a. d. 
He also constructed a line of defences between 
the Forth and the Clyde. 1 In 121 the emperor 
Hadrian visited Britain, and built another wall 
farther south, across the island from Carlisle to 
Tynemouth. By order of Antoninus, in 138 
the fortified line of Agricola was strengthened 
with a connecting wall ; and in the beginning 
of the third century Septimius Severus enlarged 
and strengthened that of Hadrian. His suc- 
cessor, Caracalla, in the year 211 surrendered 
all the territory north of that rampart. Dur- 
ing the one hundred and twenty-seven years 
from Agricola to Caracalla the south of Scot- 
land between the two walls was subject to 
Roman rule. 

After that act of Caracalla we hear nothing- 
more of Britain until the appearance of Ca- 
rausius in the reign of Diocletian. But that 
successful naval leader, whom the senior em- 
perors — the Augitsti in the Diocletian system 
— thought best to recognize as an associate 
in government, 2 is himself the only theme of 
the history which touches the country in his 
days. In 293, Carausius was murdered by 
Alectus, and Alectus, at the end of three years, 

1 Tacitus, Life of Agricola, ch. 23. 

2 Gibbon, i. 320-322, Paris ed. 



INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL. 2 9 

was defeated by Constantius Chlorus, to whom 
the administration in Britain had been trans- 
ferred by the same imperial authority. Con- 
stantius died at York in 306, and the Roman 
army of Britain elected his son Constantine to 
the honors of Augustus. 

The persecution which began in the latter 
part of the reign of Diocletian, and continued 
long in the East, extended also to the Western 
provinces, but for a briefer time. 1 A few Brit- 
ish names are recorded in the list of victims. 
The martyrdom of St. Alban is referred to the 
year 305. But the story of it is entirely tradi- 
tional, not appearing until a hundred years after 
the date when the event is said to have occurred. 
It is placed in the reign of the mild and Chris- 
tian-loving Constantius, and so burdened with 
miracles that a nimbus of doubt surrounds it. 

The interval from Caracalla to Carausius, 
about seventy years, seems to have been en- 
tirely free from northern invasion, and that 
part of Scotland once subject to Rome re- 
mained in peace. The planting of Christianity 
there within the preceding one hundred and 
twenty-seven years would best account for this 
long uninterrupted tranquillity. 

Meanwhile, the Scots, a people from Ireland, 
were securing settlement, by war or treaty, 
among the southern Hebrides and on the ad- 

1 Bede, Ecc. Hist., i. 7, 8; Geoffrey of Monmouth, v. 5. 



30 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

joining mainland. The first clear' historical 
mention of them is made by Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus as pertaining to the year 360. But 
that author gives his reader to understand that 
it was not the first time they had joined the 
Picts in ravaging the province. 

No history records the origin of the Scots, 
and only probabilities testify to their ethnic re- 
lationship. Their long residence in the north 
and east of Ireland would account for their use 
of the Erse language without implying Celtic 
descent. In some respects their character was 
strikingly different from the Celtic. Not an 
impulsive people, they were cautious, patient, 
ready to seize an advantage when it occurred, 
and far-seeing to provide for such occurrences. 
In being brave in defending what they had ac- 
quired they were only like their neighbors. 
From their subsequent relations to the Picts, 
it is probable that they came into the Hebrides 
as allies of that people, or, with the same motive, 
made invasions upon the Romanized Britons. 
Some of them were perhaps Christian, but in 
mass they were heathen. 

The name " Pict," as applied to the Caledo- 
nians, appears first in the address of Eumenius 
to the emperor Constantius Chlorus upon his 
victory over Alectus, a. d. 296. Eumenius dis- 
tinctly applies it to the inhabitants of North 
Britain before the time of Julius Caesar. 



INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL. 3 1 

Under Roman rule in its best days Britain 
consisted of three sections : First, the com- 
pletely Romanized provinces to the south of 
the wall of Hadrian, divided into four prov- 
inces ; second, the midland or debatable terri- 
tory between the wall of Hadrian and that of 
Agricola ; and third, all that lay north of the 
wall of Agricola, which was held by the inde- 
pendent Caledonians, with some of the allied 
Scots. The people of the midland were re- 
duced to subjection, but the northern Caledo- 
nians, though worsted in battle often, never 
submitted, and frequently retaliated invasion 
upon the Romans ; and the midland was the 
principal seat of war between them. 

In the time of Tertullian the part of Britain 
not subjugated by the Romans was that of the 
Caledonians. And if there were Christians 
among them when he wrote his treatise against 
the Jews, their conversion could not have been 
later than the end of the second century, per- 
haps earlier. The style of Christian teaching 
which reached them in the days of Polycarp, of 
Justin Martyr or of Irenaeus may have been 
very little altered from that of the apostles. 

While the people of the provinces were af- 
fected by religious changes in the capital, 
Christians among the Caledonians were cut 
off from such influences by the constant atti- 
tude of hostility in which their nation stood to 



32 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the Romans, and by the broad belt of debata- 
ble land between them. Whatever may have 
been the extent to which the gospel was ac- 
cepted among the people between the two 
walls — and it does not seem to have been 
universal, certainly, beyond their northern 
bounds — it was only the dissent of a few 
from the established heathenism. 

Beyond any reasonable doubt, Christianity 
came first into the south of Scotland, as in 
England, through Roman occupation of the 
country, in the ordinary intercourse of busi- 
ness, by the capture of prisoners in war and 
otherwise. Nor can we exclude the probabil- 
ity of conversions through positive missionary 
efforts. 



CHAPTER III. 

CHRISTIANITY ESTABLISHED. 

THE army which carried Constantine in 
victory to Rome, and first elevated the 
military banner of the cross, began its march 
from Britain. How much of a British ele- 
ment it contained we cannot say. But it 
indicates the convictions prevailing in the 
province that Constantius, who treated Chris- 
tians with favor, was greatly beloved by the 
people. If Constantine was not then himself 
a believer in Christ, he evinced his belief that 
the Christians were the stronger party by at- 
taching himself to their side ; and the army 
under his command consisted, beyond all 
doubt, largely of Christian men. Eight years 
later, at the Council of Aries, there were three 
bishops from the British provinces south of the 
Tyne — that is, south of the wall of Hadrian — 
but none from the north. As long as connec- 
tion with Rome existed its ecclesiastical progress 
was communicated to the provinces. But Chris- 
tians of the farther north, cut off as foreign by the 
receding of Roman dominion and by frequently 

3 33 



34 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

recurring wars, had few opportunities of obtain- 
ing relays of religious instruction from the im- 
perial city, and had to remain fixed in what was 
originally taught them. Whatever new prac- 
tices grew up among them were not dictated 
from that quarter. 

Another hundred years of imperial rule was 
that of emperors professing and protecting 
Christianity. Roman Britain was now fully 
recognized as a Christian country. 1 But it 
was obscure. The great interests of the Em- 
pire had been attracted to the East by the 
planting of the new capital on the Bosphorus, 
and ecclesiastical discussions centred there or 
in the schools of Antioch and Alexandria. The 
Western churches were less conspicuous in the 
controversies of the fourth century, and the 
British Isles were the farthest extremity of the 
West. Moreover, the people, like the subject 
races in Gaul and Spain, were poor, exhausted 
by the drain of supporting foreign rulers and 
armies which annually carried their exactions 
out of the country. 

Little is known of the British churches for 
the hundred years after the reign of Constan- 
tine. Indirectly, it appears that through the 
Arian controversy they remained orthodox. 
"In 2>6$, Athanasius could reckon the Britons 
among those who were loyal to the catholic 

1 Bright, Early English Ch. Hist., p. io. 



CHRISTIANITY ESTABLISHED. 35 

faith," although three of their bishops took 
part in the Council of Ariminum, and accept- 
ed the half-Arian formulary there propounded. 
In that they did not truly represent their Church 
at home, and "appear to have returned to the 
Nicene position." Jerome subsequently de- 
clared : " Britain worships the same Christ, 
observes the same rule of truth, with other 
Christian countries." 

These remarks touch only the Roman prov- 
inces in Britain. And they, from the time of 
Constantine, were governed by the constitu- 
tion which he impressed upon the whole empire. 
They belonged to the jurisdiction of the prefect 
of Gaul. " And his deputy, who bore the title 
of vicar of Britain, resided at York. Under 
him were presidents of each of the four great 
divisions" or provinces "of the island." 

From the accession of Constantine, in 306, 
for half a century, the internal tranquillity of 
the island was little disturbed, except occasion- 
ally by the exactions of an unprincipled impe- 
rial officer. But in the year 360 Picts united 
with the Scots — who now, for the first time, 1 
appear on the records of Britain- — broke over 
the wall of Severus, and, continuing their rava- 
ges for the next seven years, ultimately reached 
the extreme south and threatened the city of 
London. By order of the emperor Valentinian 

1 Skene, i. 97, 137. 



36 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

I., the great general Theodosius transported an 
army from the Continent, with which he de- 
feated the invaders, and drove them back over 
the wall of Severus and farther north, until he 
had re-established the rampart of Agricola. By 
the year 370 the country between the two walls 
was once more a Roman province, now called 
Valentia or Valentiniana, in compliment to the 
emperor. But that was of brief duration. 

After the imperial forces were withdrawn 
their persistent enemies from the north again 
recovered possession of the debatable land. 
When the Roman army returned the invaders 
were driven back. But the wall of Severus 
was subsequently the northern boundary of 
the imperial dominion. And as soon as the 
Roman army was out of the way, even that 
was crossed and invasion repeated to the 
south. But as Rome became involved in seri- 
ous conflicts near her own gates the protection 
of her distant territories had to be surrendered. 
Early in the fifth century her rulers in Britain 
collected all their treasures — " some they hid in 
the earth," "and some they carried with them 
into Gaul" — and in 418 abandoned Britain for 
ever. 

From the time of Agricola they had ruled in 
the island three hundred and thirty-five years, 
but their residence was south of the rampart of 
Severus. The province north of that was never 



CHRISTIAXITY ESTABLISHED. 37 

a safe possession. And yet it was sufficiently 
subjected, and for a long enough time, to receive 
substantial elements of civilization, and certain- 
ly to some extent the gospel. 

By the imperial constitution of Constantine 
the Christian Church was woven into the web 
of general government as the state religion. In 
its own sphere, like the civil and military depart- 
ments in theirs, it extended over the whole field 
of Roman dominion. Corresponding to the civil 
prefects, the great bishops of the capital cities 
— Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Alexan- 
dria, with Jerusalem — were elevated to the high- 
est ecclesiastical authority next to the emperor. 
But by that constitution they could have no 
power over Christians beyond the bounds of 
the Empire. In the general Council at Con- 
stantinople in 381 that fact was recognized, and 
action taken accordingly, in a canon ordering 
that churches planted among barbarians should 
continue the practice they had been taught by 
their founders — that is, the missionaries under 
whom they were converted. That was the po- 
sition of the British Christians north of the 
Tyne and Solway during the greater part of 
the Roman dominion in the island. And as Ro- 
man power waned in the south, so were they 
the more frequently subjected to new incur- 
sions of Scots from Ireland, who formed set- 
tlements on the west and joined the Picts in 



38 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

raids upon the Roman provinces. Strength 
was thereby added to the heathen element, 
while the Christian was diminished and de- 
pressed. On the eastern side of the island 
the invasions of Saxons had already begun. 



CHAPTER IV. 

N INI AN. 

THE first positive facts of Scottish church 
history now emerge into light. 
On the extreme south of Galloway, which 
looks over the Irish Sea, the coast of Scotland 
is divided into three capes by the bays of Luce 
and of Wigton, with the Solway firth. The 
middle cape terminates at Barrow Head in an 
embankment of sea-worn rocks about two hun- 
dred feet high. North-east and north-west from 
that point the rugged barrier girds the coast for 
thirty miles. The general level of the country 
lies at a corresponding elevation above the sea, 
and, without possessing mountains, rises irregu- 
larly into a multitude of isolated hills. Up the 
eastern side, about three miles from the blunted 
apex of the cape, there is a break and depres- 
sion in the rocky wall, forming a natural harbor 
of small extent, made safe by a little island lying 
nearly across its entrance. On that point of 
land, and by that little harbor of Whithorn, in 
or about the year 390, landed Ninian, the first 
Christian missionary to Scotland known by 

name. 

39 



40 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

And yet Ninian did not come to an entirely 
heathen country. More than a hundred years 
before, Christians had been settled in that prov- 
ince. But lack of religious instruction and the 
devastations of heathen invaders had no doubt 
deranged their order, whatever it was, and great- 
ly diminished their number. Ninian was a na- 
tive of Christian Britain, probably of North 
Wales, where the churches were in a flourish- 
ing condition, according to the venerated prac- 
tices established by their founders. At Rome 
he had sought a more complete education than 
his own country could afford. His residence in 
that city must have been in the pontificate of 
Damasus I. or of Syricius, or in part of both. 
The constitution of Constantine was then in 
full force, and the hierarchical system in union 
with the State, although still new, had already 
shaped itself into the likeness of the civil gov- 
ernment. On his return through France, Nin- 
ian visited Martin, bishop of Tours, from whom 
he could not fail to hear more and other lessons 
on the merits of sacerdotal and monastic orders. 
He arrived at Whithorn, there can be little doubt, 
with ideas of Christianity formed, to some degree, 
upon what was to be found in Rome under Syri- 
cius. But nothing is credibly recorded of him 
at variance with the simple practice of earlier 
Christians. He built a house for residence and 
worship and for the education of youth, and 



NINIAN. 41 

preached the gospel there, as well as elsewhere 
in the country of the southern Picts. 1 Many of 
that people had heard the message of grace 
before, but ere Ninian's work closed all of 
those living- to the south of the mountains of 
Dumbartonshire, and perhaps farther north on 
the eastward, had, in the language of Bede, 
" forsaken the errors of idolatry and embraced 
the truth." 2 

The death of Ninian is assigned to the year 
432. His successors and the results of his la- 
bors are lost to the eye of history for many 
generations. His mission-station subsequently 
came into possession of the Saxons, and, like 
Lindisfarne, was reconstructed after the Romish 
model. Bede mentions it again at the end of 
his history, and says that it had then, in 731, 
been lately constituted an episcopal see, and 
had Pecthelm for its first bishop. 3 

1 Skene, ii. 419. 2 Historia Ecclesiastica, b. iii. 3. 3 Ibid., b. v. 23. 



CHAPTER V. 

PALLADIUS. 

SHORTLY before the date assigned to Nin- 
ian's death Palladius arrived as an emissary 
of Rome — sent not to convert heathen, but to 
conform existing churches to the Romish model. 
John of Fordun writes : "The Scots in Scotland 
had long before been believers in Christ, but 
had as teachers of the faith and administrators 
of the sacraments only presbyters and monks, 
following the rite of the primitive Church." 1 
But in the middle of the fifth century the resi- 
dence of the Scots was in Ireland. And by 
Irish accounts Palladius was sent by Pope 
Celestine to collect and organize into church 
order the few scattered Christians among them. 
In 429 the Pelagian heresy was taking effect 
upon some of the clergy in South Britain. At 
the instance of Palladius, who was then a dea- 
con, the pope sent Germanus, bishop of Aux- 
erre, to bring them back to the Catholic faith. 
His attention being thus turned to that quarter 
of the world, in the second year afterward he 

1 Todd's St. Patrick, p. 282. 
42 



PALLADIUS. 43 

ordained Palladius a bishop and sent him to the 
Scots. 

Prosper of Aquitaine, a contemporaneous 
writer, by whom these facts are stated, re- 
cords in his chronicle, under the consulship 
of Bassus and Antiochus (a. d. 431), that Pal- 
ladius was ordained by Pope Celestine, and 
sent to the Scots believing in Christ to be 
their first bishop. In another work, referring 
to these two missions of Celestine, he adds that 
the pope in ordaining a bishop for the Scots, 
while endeavoring to retain the Roman island 
Catholic, also made a barbarous one Christian. 
By the " barbarous " island the writer cannot, 
in that connection, mean any other than Ire- 
land ; the Latin word barbarus designated it as 
never having been reduced to Roman govern- 
ment. The Scots of Ireland were still heathen. 
All the pretended evidence to the contrary has 
disappeared before the light of sober criticism. 
There is no testimony to indicate more than a 
probability that a few believers may have been 
found amid the mass of a heathen public. To 
unite these into a Church was the mission of 
Palladius. He was not sent to convert heathen, 
but as a bishop to Christians. It proved, how- 
ever, upon his arrival in Ireland, that Christians 
were not numerous enough in the country to 
make his enterprise practicable. Encountering 
much hardship, he became disheartened, and 



44 THE CHURCH IN SCO TI AND. 

leaving Ireland crossed over to Britain. By a 
storm at sea, or, quite as likely, by intelligent 
choice, he was directed to the eastern coast 
north of the wall of Antonine, where there 
was a Christian community still without a 
bishop. Fordun in Kincardineshire became 
the centre of his operations. There he re- 
mained, according- to the common account, 
only a short time, but all the rest of his life, 
for he there died, as the ancient Book of 
Armagh says, in the territory of the Britons, 1 

432. 

The missionary enterprise of Ninian began 
when Roman arms were finally withdrawn from 
the debatable province between the walls, but 
not from the country south of it. The success 
of his long and popular ministry was probably 
due in part to his being himself a Briton, in 
sympathy with the national feelings of the 
people and their earlier religious instruction, 
where they had received any, earlier than that 
communicated by himself. Palladius came af- 
ter the Romans had entirely withdrawn from 
the whole island. His failure to enforce the 
Romish ecclesiastical rule as it then stood may 
have owed something to the fact that he was a 
foreigner. Romans never were favorites on 
the north side of Antonine's wall. The people 
may have been apprehensive that in complying 

1 A later writer for " Britons " puts " Picts," Todd, 288. 



PALLADIUS. 45 

with the wishes of the emissary from Rome 
they might be submitting to the Roman em- 
pire, and thereby yield to an artifice the inde- 
pendence they had so bravely defended with 
arms. A persistent enemy no longer able to 
use force might be suspected of craft. 

The efforts of Palladius were addressed to 
the clergy, whom he sought to instruct in " the 
Christian law." But there is no account of any 
conversion to the law, except that of Servanus 
(St. Serf), who must have been already a Chris- 
tian. He is said to have accepted consecration 
as a bishop at the hands of Palladius. 1 He also 
baptized and instructed Ternan, a youth of no- 
ble birth, who afterward became a presbyter, 
and later a bishop. But the story of Ternan 
is entangled in impossible anachronisms. Both 
Servanus and Ternan were reputed miracle- 
workers, and most of what passes for biogra- 
phy of them consists of silly and incredible 
fables. In short, the undertaking of Palladius 
seems to have been a failure which later Rom- 
ish writers attempted to disguise. 

Moreover, in the Book of Armagh an ancient 
annotator on the life of St. Patrick states that 
Palladius was also called Patricius, and distin- 
guishes between them as the first and the sec- 
ond Patrick. Many contradictions found in the 
biographies of the apostle of Ireland have 

1 Todd, St. Patrick, p. 302, Note I. 



46 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

been thereby reasonably accounted for, as 
due to importations from the life of Palla- 
dius. 1 

After the final withdrawal of the Romans, 
barbarian invasions deranging all the coun- 
tries between Britain and Italy, pirates in- 
festing the seas and plundering the coasts, 
the British churches were completely severed 
from that of Rome — a separation which in 
North Britain lasted over two hundred years. 
During all that time the churches in that quar- 
ter, conducting their inner affairs in their own 
way, and allowing great freedom in mission en- 
terprise, contracted customs and established an 
ecclesiastical system of their own. Meanwhile, 
those upon the Continent were still more active 
in building up a structure of a different style — in 
some things better, in some worse, but in all more 
powerful. When they next met the difference 
between them was found to be irreconcilable. 

1 Todd, 289; also, 305-345. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PA T RICH'S. 

WHILE the missionary work of Ninian was 
going on in Galloway and among the 
southern Picts, incursions of heathen Picts into 
the province continued, and heathen Scots from 
Ireland still harried the western coast. The 
Scots at that date seem to have been in quest 
not so much of territory as of plunder and 
slaves. In one of their raids a youth of six- 
teen years of age, named Succat and also 
Patricius, was carried off to Ireland, and sold 
or assigned to an under-chieftain of the O'Neil, 
in the county Antrim, who put him to the task 
of tending cattle. 

By his own account, Patrick was a native of 
Britain. And that he meant the island of Brit- 
ain, and not Brittany, admits of no doubt. He 
does not say in what town or other locality he 
was born, but the country of which he was a 
native he names, and also the place where he 
was taken captive by Irish pirates. The latter 
was a village called Bonavem Taberniae, near 
which his father had a little farm. 1 Bonavem 

1 Confession, c. i. 

47 



4§ THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Taberniae has not been successfully identified 
with any recent name. An ancient Irish 
hymn, attributed to Fiacc, a younger contem- 
porary of his, states that " Patrick was born 
at Nemthur ;" and the scholiast upon the 
hymn explains Nemthur as a " city in North 
Britain, namely Alcluada," now Dumbarton, 
on the firth of Clyde. 1 The country of 
his nativity Patrick mentions incidentally, but 
plainly. He calls it Britannia, using the plu- 
ral, as the Romans did in reference to the 
provinces into which they had divided Brit- 
ain. Thus, having recounted his escape from 
captivity in Ireland, he says that he was again 
in Britanniis with his parents, who received 
him as a son, and besought him never again 
to leave them. 2 In another place, writing 
of his wish to go from Ireland to Britain, he 
again uses the name in the plural, in Britan- 
nias, and calls that country his patria — that is, 
his native land — where he would meet' with 
his parents (or relatives) ; and adds that he 
would be glad to go even as far as to the 
Gallias — that is, to Gaul, also designated in 
the plural — where he could visit brethren and 
see the face of the saints of the Lord — that is, 
Christian brethren. 3 But Armorica, or Brittany, 
was a part of Gaul. And Gaul was at some 

1 Todd's St. Patrick, 355. 

2 Confession, Migne, x. ; Patrol., vol. 53. 3 Ibid., xix. 



PA TRICIUS. 49 

distance farther away from Ireland than Pat- 
rick's native land. 

It is a tradition consistently retained in Scot- 
land that the place of Patrick's birth was on the 
Clyde, a few miles above Dumbarton, on the 
north-western frontier of the Roman province 
of Valentia, and within what afterward became 
the native kingdom of Strathclyde. 1 He was 
the son of a Christian family in a Christian 
community, who must have derived their Chris- 
tian instruction from a date earlier than Ninian. 
His father was a deacon, by name Calpurnius, 
who had also held the civil office of decurio, 2 
and his grandfather, Potitus, had been a pres- 
byter. Their names, as well as that of Patricius 
himself, being Latin, seem to imply (not cer- 
tainly that they were of Roman birth, but) that 
their connection had been with the Roman oc- 
cupants of their neighborhood, and that their 
Christianity must have reached them through 
the same channel. 

Patrick writes of himself and his young com- 
panions as not faithful to the religious educa- 
tion they had enjoyed. 

The hardships of bondage revived and 
intensified his early religious impressions. 
After six years he escaped, and carried with 

1 Todd, 353-358. See argument for Patrick's Gallic birth in Lanni- 
gan's Eccles. Hist, of Ireland, i. 103, etc. 

2 Epistle against Coroticus. 

4 



50 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

him the purpose to prepare himself for re- 
turning and preaching the gospel to the bar- 
barous people of Ireland. His process of 
preparation is not very clearly recounted, but 
it seems to have occupied a number of years ; 
after which, in compliance with repeated ad- 
monitions of the Lord, he entered upon the 
execution of his design — at what date is not 
closely ascertainable. That commonly given 
is 432, but some authors argue for an earlier 1 
and some for a later year — not plausibly later 
than 442. 2 

With a few assistants Patrick landed at the 
south-west extremity of Lough Strangford, in 
the county Down. By divine blessing upon 
the energy and prudence with which he prose- 
cuted his mission the gospel was soon carried 
over that and the adjoining counties. In his 
ministry of thirty (some say forty or more) 
years there were few places in Ireland where it 
had not been preached and churches organized. 
Heathenism was not eradicated, but Christianity 
was planted in every tribe. 8 

Christianity, as preached by Patrick, observed 
the simple rites once common to all the churches, 
Roman as well as the rest, but longest retained 
in the old, out-of-the-way British churches with- 

1 Killen quotes the " Old Catholic Church " for the date 405 : Eccles. 
Hist, of Ireland, i. 13, Note 4. 

2 Todd's St. Patrick, 391 and fol. 3 Ibid., 499. 



PA TRICIUS. 5 I 

in which Patrick had received his education. He 
went to Ireland, not to propagate a sacerdotal sys- 
tem, but from love to Christ and to the souls of 
men. Of a commission from Rome or from any 
human authority he makes no mention, but says 
that it was Christ the Lord who, in a vision, com- 
manded him to go, and the admonition of the 
Holy Spirit which retained him in the work 
when once begun. He entered upon his work 
as a presbyter. Concerning his episcopal rank, 
where and by whom it was conferred, he does 
not say. And the pretension that he set up 
a primacy in Armagh has been shown to be 
unfounded. 1 Those whom he ordained to the 
ministry he calls clerics, without saying of what 
rank. Writers of succeeding times classified 
them according to their own ideas, making five 
thousand of them presbyters and three hun- 
dred and fifty bishops. Of course, in so small 
a country as Ireland, and at that time so thinly 
populated, their number declares what kind of 
bishops they were not. Under the late Estab- 
lished Church thirty-four dioceses of moderate 
size included the whole island. The present 
Catholic distribution covers it with twenty-nine. 
And yet, in a sense not intended by prelatic 
writers, Patrick's clerics were no doubt many 
of them bishops ; that is, among other ministe- 
rial duties they discharged those of the pastor- 

1 Todd, Introd.; also 475. 



52 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ate and general oversight in the tribe to which 
their fraternity belonged. 

On the shores of Lough Strangford rise cer- 
tain low grassy hills called " downs." On one 
of these, at a later time, was erected the stately 
cathedral consecrated to the name of Patrick. 
About two miles from that stood his first 
preaching-place, given by Dichu, his first con- 
vert. It was an old barn constrained to accom- 
modate worshipers, but soon replaced by a more 
ecclesiastical structure, though it still bears the 
name Sabhal, shortened to Saul, meaning in the 
Celtic tongue barn or granary. 1 

At Armagh, upon the " hill of willows," and 
on ground given by Daire, chief of that district, 
he erected the edifice in which he most fre- 
quently ministered. 2 And, after all his mani- 
fold labors for Ireland through her length and 
breadth, upon those two points where they be- 
gan were their latest efforts expended. He 
died at Saul, and was buried at Downpatrick, 
as is generally believed, near the spot where 
now stands the cathedral of Down ; in what 
year is not certain. The event has been put 
at various dates from 455 to 495. Many argu- 
ments are urged in favor of 465, March 17. 3 

Such a man was of course, in the records of 
the Middle Ages, credited with prophetic and 

1 Todd, 407, 409. 2 Ibid., 472 and fol. 

3 Lannigan, i. 355-363; Killen, i. 13. 



PATH ICIUS. 53 

miracle-working- powers. Everything done by 
him is done in some preternatural way ; and 
such a mist of absurd fiction is thrown around 
him that his very existence has been called in 
question. Careful criticism has winnowed out 
some grains of truth, but in the mass his medi- 
aeval biographies cannot be accepted as history. 
Fortunately, Patrick in his old age felt con- 
strained to defend himself " from the charge of 
presumption in having undertaken such a work 
as the conversion of the Irish, rude and un- 
learned as he was." In that Confession, as it is 
called, the motives which actuated him to his 
missionary enterprise, and some points of his 
life concerned with it, are recounted in a plain, 
modest and indubitable way. An open letter 
also written by him in reference to the barbar- 
ous conduct of Coroticus, a Welsh chieftain, 
contains a few more statements which may be 
safely trusted. His honors of saintship were 
conferred at a long subsequent time, when pa- 
palism, in effort for universal dominion, deemed 
it expedient to adopt and claim credit for all 
earlier Christian achievements, disguising them 
with its own colors and decorations. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PATRICK'S TEACHING. 

THE external form of Christianity, as carried 
by Patrick to Ireland, differed from that 
which prevailed on the Continent at the same 
date. Confusion was subsequently introduced 
into the history by attempts of later Romish 
writers to cover up that difference, or make it 
appear as little as possible. Because if West- 
ern Christianity came from Rome, as they all 
believed it did, they thought there could be no 
difference. Patrick was not a heretic nor a 
schismatic. And yet from his own writings, as 
well as from some events in the state of the 
later Scottish Church, which the chroniclers 
could not omit, it is plain that there were 
differences. That fact, however, did not 
amount to the argument which they appre- 
hended against the Roman origin of the Brit- 
ish churches. For the Christianity of Rome 
in the fifth century differed on several points 
from itself in the second. That the practices 
in the Church of Strathclyde were not, in the 
sixth century, the same in all respects as those 
of Rome, nor of the national churches else- 

54 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 55 

where on the Continent, is not now denied ; 
nor that the churches in Ireland within the 
same period agreed with that of Strathclyde 
on points whereon they differed from others. 

Why did they so agree together, and so 
differ from Rome ? 

The answer is, That elsewhere there had 
been progress in definition and statement of 
doctrine, in construction of formal orthodoxy, 
in definition of heresies, in multiplication of 
rites in worship and sacramental ceremonies, 
in clerical practices, in distinctions of clerical 
ranks, and in the development of a great 
sacerdotal system in union with the Roman 
imperial government. In Britain the country 
lying between the walls had never been Ro- 
manized, as were the provinces to the south 
of it. Its communication with the Christian 
Continent never was as free. A great part of 
the time, and repeatedly, it was the battle-ground 
between Romanized and independent Britons. 
It was cut off from such intercourse the more 
completely as the Roman force declined, for so 
the more daring was the heathen force which 
overran it. According to the best that histori- 
cal criticism can ascertain, Patrick was a native 
of the extreme north-western frontier of that 
debatable land. It was therefore to be ex- 
pected that the Irish and Strathclyde churches 
should agree with each other, as well as that 



5 6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

they should differ, in some respects, from those 
on the Continent. 

In the interval of time between the second 
Christian century and the fifth changes had 
taken place in the great Church of the Ro- 
man empire. Heresies had arisen, new terms 
had been adopted in statement of the com- 
mon faith, and controversy had given to certain 
phrases a conventional meaning which they had 
not before. But there is no evidence that the 
Easter controversy, the rebaptism controversy, 
the Arian or Semi-Arian or Apollinarian con- 
troversy, had ever reached the secluded com- 
munity in which Patrick learned Christ. 

To such a degree was Patrick's work dis- 
connected from the ecclesiastical system of the 
Continent that his very name seems to have 
been unknown there. For several genera- 
tions after his death scarcely an allusion is 
made to him by men of the Roman Church. 
" Not a single writer prior to the eighth cen- 
tury mentions it." * But for his undoubtedly 
genuine autobiography, the reality of his life 
might have been totally lost in the depths of 
mythical cloud with which mediaeval writers 
have actually obscured it. To the same doc- 
ument also are we indebted for any positive 
information about the type of doctrine he 
taught. 

1 Skene, ii. 16. 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 57 

At the beginning of his narrative the aged 
missionary gives a brief statement of his 
theology, upon which he says that he cannot 
be silent: 

"For after we have been corrected and brought 
to know God, we should exalt and confess his 
wonderful works before every nation which is un- 
der the whole heaven — that there is no other God, 
nor ever was, nor shall hereafter be, beside God 
the Father, unbegotten, without beginning, from 
whom is all beginning, upholding all things, as 
we have said ; and his Son Jesus Christ, whom 
we acknowledge to have been always with the 
Father, in an ineffable manner begotten before 
all beginning ; and by him were made things 
visible and invisible ; and being made man, and 
having overcome death, he was received into 
heaven with the Father. And he (the Father) 
hath given unto him all power, above every 
name, of things in heaven and things in earth, 
and things under the earth, that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and 
God, whom we believe, and look for his coming, 
who is soon to be the Judge of the living and 
the dead, who will render unto every man ac- 
cording to his works ; and has shed in us abun- 
dantly the gift of the Holy Spirit and the pledge 
of immortality ; who makes the believing and 
obedient to become the sons of God the Fa- 
ther and joint heirs with Christ, whom we con- 



58 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

fess and adore, one God in Trinity of the holy 
name. For he himself has said, by the prophet, 
' Call upon me in the day of thy tribulation, and 
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt magnify me.' 
And again he says, 'It is honorable to reveal 
and to confess the works of God.' " * 

This seems to be an original confession of 
faith. Except in containing the same funda- 
mental doctrines of God and Christ, it bears no 
marks of relation to the Nicene or Constantino- 
politan Creeds drawn up by the doctors of the 
Empire, nor to the so-called Apostles' Creed. 
It differs from them in laying stress on the 
"ineffably begotten before all beginning," but 
none on the begotten of the Virgin Mary, not 
even mentioning the virgin mother, while all 
the three Catholic creeds press the latter into 
conspicuous place. It also differs from the 
Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creeds in say- 
ing nothing about Christ being of the same sub- 
stance or of similar substance with the Father, 
and lays no emphasis on the distinction between 
begotten and made. In short, it evinces no 
knowledge of either Arian or Semi-Arian con- 
troversy. Nor is there anything in it which 
implies acquaintance with the Pelagian belief. 
It has more resemblance to the summaries of 
doctrine to be found in the early Fathers, espe- 
cially to that of Irenaeus ; and yet it is not a 

1 Confess., c. 2. 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 59 

copy of any of them. This is remarkable for 
such a production in the latter half of the fifth 
century, and could not have occurred had its 
author been educated in France or Italy, where 
among ecclesiastics those controversies had long 
enlisted the fiercest partisan zeal and determined 
certain forms of expression on both sides, heret- 
ical and orthodox. 

Of the imperial system of church govern- 
ment sanctioned under Constantine, with its 
authoritatively graduated ranks of clergy, Pat- 
rick and his helpers seem to have had little 
knowledge. In his statement his helpers were 
all clerics, without any distinction of rank. He 
is himself, in his old age, a bishop — how consti- 
tuted or by whom he does not say, but believes 
that he had received from God what he was. 

Bishop is a word which has belonged to Chris- 
tian history from the days of the apostles. Nor 
can there be any completely organized Church 
without a bishop. The word is a scriptural 
word, but it has gone through a variety of 
meanings in the progress of church history. 

1. In the first instance, when an apostle con- 
stituted a church in any city he ordained pres- 
byters in it, and immediately it was competent 
to manage its own affairs, because the presby- 
ters, in their pastoral duties, were the bishops 
of that church, and were sometimes so called. 1 

1 Acts xx. 17-18 ; Philip, ii. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1 ; Tit. i. 7. 



60 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

2. It became necessary in the meetings of 
those presbyter-bishops that some one should 
preside. They might have taken that service 
turn about in routine, but it was quite as natural 
for them to elect one of their number as perma- 
nent president. And that method was soon 
adopted in all the churches. Pastoral super- 
vision came thereby more immediately into his 
hands, and of the two titles the one significant 
of pastoral duty as overseer was naturally ap- 
propriated to him, while his colleagues retained 
the title presbyter. 1 

3. Further on, the presiding brother among 
the presbyters of a congregation came to be 
recognized as occupying a higher rank than 
the rest. And thus the principle was estab- 
lished of having only one bishop in one church. 

4. In a large city, when the church increased 
to such numbers that they could not all meet in 
any one of the houses at their disposal, separate 
congregations were set off, and a presbyter 
appointed to minister in each. But from the 
beginning it was a principle of Christian broth- 
erhood that all the Christians in one city should 
constitute but one church. Accordingly, all the 
congregations in one city, though worshiping 
separately, were only branches of one church, 
and one bishop presided over them all. Thus 
two principles were firmly established — namely, 

1 Jerome, Ep.> 82 : Com. on Titus, 1, 7. 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 6 1 

one bishop in one church, and one church in 
one city. From these seeds the growth of 
prelacy was inevitable. 

5. A fifth degree was occasioned by the mis- 
sion churches planted outside of the cities. In any 
one of those the missionary sent out to minister 
in it, when constituted permanent, became its 
bishop, being pastor in the church of a sepa- 
rate town or village. At the same time he was 
held to be subordinate to the bishop of the 
church from which his mission proceeded. 
And in the neighborhood of some great 
cities such mission churches were many. The 
bishop of the great city became thereby a 
bishop over bishops — a metropolitan. Other 
country churches, for the most part, in the 
course of time fell in with the method pre- 
vailing at the great centres of population. 

6. Thus, before the time of Constantine the 
Church had grown into a structure of govern- 
ment whereby she easily conformed to his great 
system for the civil power, and readily fur- 
nished a still higher rank of bishops to preside 
each over the ecclesiastical affairs of an impe- 
rial exarchate, thereby providing a double rank 
of archbishops presiding respectively over dio- 
ceses and subordinate provinces of the Empire. 

7. The four greatest divisions of the Roman 
dominion, called prefectures, gave greater dig- 
nity to the bishops of the capital cities — Rome, 



62 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Constantinople, Antioch, and, as there was no 
capital for the most western prefecture, Alex- 
andria took her place among the high ranks of 
the Church. Accordingly, the bishops of those 
capital cities, with the title patriarch, stood at 
the head of ecclesiastics. In course of time 
Jerusalem was revived and added to the patri- 
archates. 

8. Meanwhile, a higher honor among the 
patriarchs was conceded to Rome and Con- 
stantinople — a metropolitan patriarchate. 

From that summit of ecclesiastical authority 
the ramifications of clerical office adapted them- 
selves to all the territorial divisions and subdi- 
visions of the Roman dominion, down to the 
smallest parochia (parish) ; and the power of 
the trunk permeated the branches to their 
farthest extremities. 

So far had the hierarchical development 
proceeded on the Continent when the work 
of Patrick in Ireland began. It was a devel- 
opment ruled in its outgoing by the territorial 
distribution of the Empire. But the Empire had 
never extended to Ireland or to Britain north 
of the wall of Antonine. An entirely different- 
structure of government was needed for the 
missions of Patrick, as being addressed to a 
different state of social and civil order. 

The population of Ireland consisted of an 
aggregate of great families, each family, in all 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 63 

its branches, recognizing the relationship as a 
bond of organic union. All the rights of the 
father in the family were held to be inherited 
by his heir as head of the clan. His authority 
was absolute. Clansmen had only to depend 
and to obey. There were rules to be observed, 
but constitutional privileges of the governed 
there were none. The tribes possessed lands, 
but the tribal, and not the territorial, distribu- 
tion was the basis of their organization. "Clan- 
ship," says Dr. Todd, 1 " is the key to Irish his- 
tory." 

Patrick proceeded with prudence and adapted 
his church to the constitution of society. He 
always addressed himself first to the chieftain. 
To have attempted the conversion of the clans- 
men without consent of their prince would have 
been to excite rebellion not likely to succeed. 
But when the chief accepted baptism, the ex- 
ample went far with his dependants. Patrick 
framed the structure of his churches to corre- 
spond with that of the clans. His clerics he 
associated in groups, each group for a clan, 
the members of it living together in common 
— a little Christian tribe within the tribe, set- 
ting an example of Christian society, and dis- 
tributing among themselves the religious duties 
for the tribe, usually by the order and under 
protection of the chief. 2 

1 St. Patrick, 226, 227. 2 Ibid., 503. 



64 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

The imperial style of prelacy was perfectly in 
accord with the style of society and government 
under the Roman empire ; and its growth was 
natural from a few determining principles. But 
from the structure of society in Ireland it was 
utterly alien. There, every clan was in itself 
a separate power. No plan of union compre- 
hended them all. Each clan was liable to be at 
war with some of its neighbors. Headship of 
all was to be brought about, if ever, by force of 
arms. Internally, each clan respected only the 
authority of its chief. How, in that condition 
of affairs, was the island to be parceled out ter- 
ritorially on one common principle into peaceful 
dioceses and parishes ? The churches had to be 
distributed after the fashion of the tribes. A 
group of bishops with their respective churches 
in one neighborhood was quite as accordant with 
the monastic residence of the clergy as under 
the Empire the rule of one church in one city 
and one bishop in one church. 

When, long afterward (five or six hundred 
years), Ireland came under papal rule, writers 
whose ideas had been formed upon the papal 
system thought that in Irish church history 
they must find all the prelatic ranks from the 
beginning, and, not finding them, called what 
they did find by their names. So, Ireland is 
forthwith supplied with diocesans and a sub- 
ordinate parochial priesthood, and Patrick him- 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 65 

self is constituted a great metropolitan, and 
Armagh the seat of a primacy over all. 

Neither was there in the minds of those 
writers any conception of ecclesiastical growth. 
Everything must be from the first all that they 
knew it to be in their own time. Patrick, they 
say, ordained three hundred and fifty bishops 
or more, five thousand presbyters, and consti- 
tuted seven hundred churches. That may be 
true or not. He says nothing of the kind. It 
was not true as they meant it, measuring out, 
according to their own notions, the proportion 
of bishops and presbyters for seven hundred 
separate churches. 1 

Out of Patrick's missionary stations, partak- 
ing of the monastic character, grew up, after 
his death, a system of monasteries connected 
with the tribes and modified by an influence 
proceeding from Wales. Founded by some 
person of eminent piety, and endowed by 
him or by some Christian family, each mon- 
astery fitted itself to the regulations of the 
tribe to which it belonged. Its abbot 2 was 
not elected by its members, but followed his 
predecessors in right of the family of the foun- 
der. If that failed to furnish a suitable person, 
the succession passed over to the family which 
had furnished the endowment. If the family of 
the founder was also that of the donor, the in- 

1 Todd, 28. 2 From the Semitic abba, abbas, father. 

5 



66 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

heritance of election remained with its members, 
who were under obligation to provide a person 
duly qualified for the duties. The abbot might 
be either a clergyman or a layman, but in either 
case he was the highest governmental authority 
in the church of his tribe. The episcopate was 
merely a rank among the collegiate brethren, 
and not only void of jurisdiction, but necessa- 
rily subject to the abbacy in as far as respected 
the collegiate rules. A bishop's duties of con- 
firmation, administration of the Eucharist with 
rites of the greatest pomp, and ordination to 
clerical office, the abbot did not usurp, but he 
held the discharge of them under his direc- 
tion. 1 

This was equally true of the rule of an abbess 
over her nunnery. Brigid of Kildare employed 
a bishop, whom she held as subject to her laws, 
in his place, as were her nuns in theirs. 

The members of the association were called 
brethren, and the number under one abbot (fa- 
ther), generally amounting to one hundred and 
fifty or more, were the family. They constitu- 
ted a regular Christian community in each tribe, 
to which the members of the tribe were drawn by 
the attractions of kindred and greater security. 

No one of these fraternities ruled over the 
rest. They stood to one another in the relation 
of a federal union, and no central head was 

1 Todd's St. Patrick, 5, etc. 



PATRICK'S TEACHING. 67 

acknowledged save Christ. The monastery 
had certain claims upon its tribes for support, 
while the tribe had claims upon it for clerical 
duties and for instruction by recital of the word 
of God to all who would listen to it. 

Every such clerical fraternity was also a sem- 
inary of learning, and besides its family main- 
tained a body of youth in the course of instruc- 
tion. It was still a missionary system, designed 
to set an example of Christian life in a state of 
self-denial and the practice of Christian virtues 
and affections, and to furnish protection for per- 
secuted converts. Its accommodations were 
humble, consisting mostly of huts made of 
wattles and earth or boards ; but it was " de- 
fended by a wall of veneration, and belief 
prevailed that the peace of the religious soci- 
ety could not be violated with impunity." 

Care of scriptural instruction was an inherit- 
ance from early Christian times faithfully retained 
by the great missionary to Ireland, and by the 
clergy who succeeded him. As stated by Co- 
lumbanus, a monk of the second period, their 
Church insisted upon knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures, and accepted as a standard of doctrine 
nothing beyond the teaching of the evangelists 
and apostles. Concerning a daring controversy 
of his time, he said that, " excepting those state- 
ments which either the law or the prophets or 
the Gospels or the apostles have made known 



68 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

to us, solemn silence ought to be observed with 
respect to the Trinity. For it is God's testi- 
mony alone that is to be credited concerning 
God — that is, concerning himself." 



w 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CHURCH OF STRATHCLYDE. 

THILE Patrick was pursuing his mission in 
Ireland new settlements of heathen were 
forming in South Britain. Saxons already had 
their colonies planted along the whole eastern 
coast from Kent to Northumberland, extending 
successively to the districts on the Tweed and 
Forth, while Norsemen had begun their inva- 
sions on the farther north-east. What is now 
Scotland was greatly distracted by invasion. 
Scots from Ireland on the west and Saxons 
on the east, expelled or subjugated the earlier 
inhabitants. The Romanized and Christian 
Britons of the south-eastern coast were driv- 
en to the central mountains and their conere- 
gations broken up. The people north of the 
ereat firths were still chieflv heathen. Gallo- 
way, embracing what is now Kirkcudbrightshire, 
Wigtonshire and the southern part of Ayr- 
shire, was inhabited by an ancient British 
race. Christian perhaps to some extent in 
Roman times, together with a recent Pictish 
immigration, converted under the preaching 
of Ninian. A larofe colonv of Scots from 

69 



JO THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Ireland had settled in the West Highlands 
and made themselves masters of what is 
now Argyllshire. 

Thus, by the middle of the sixth century 
North Britain was divided among six or sev- 
en different groups of population — heathen 
Norsemen on the north-east ; heathen Saxons 
on the south-east; Picts, partly Christian, on 
the intermediate east coast; Britons, partly 
Christian and partly heathen, in the south 
centre ; Christian Britons and Picts in Gallo- 
way ; Picts with Scots, partly Christian, in the 
south-west Highlands and Hebrides; and Picts, 
purely heathen, in the Highlands of the north- 
west and north centre. 

The history of Scotland as a nation had not 
yet begun. It was to take shape and consist- 
ency from the slow process of unions, subju- 
gations, annexations and amalgamations of 
different races, and their conversion to Chris- 
tianity. At that date the principal seat of 
Christian profession was the south centre, 
from the firth of Clyde to the Solway, and 
Galloway. Of the former the inhabitants 
were chiefly of Kymric descent, and recog- 
nized their religious as well as ethnic rela- 
tions with the people of North-west England 
and of Wales. But they were weakened by 
division under several petty kings, and the 
Church within their bounds suffered greatly 



CHURCH OF STRATHCLYDE. 7 1 

from neglect and long-continued warfare with 
the heathen on both north and east, while 
their clergy were disorganized. It was the 
period of intensest conflict between Britons 
and Saxons — the time of King Arthur's le- 
gendary wars, described by Geoffrey of Mon- 
mouth as the most successful resistance ever 
made by Christian Britons to the aggressions 
of their heathen foes. 1 Arthur's twelve great 
successful battles seem to have been real, and 
fought in defence of the Kymric south of Scot- 
land against Picts on the north and Saxons on 
the east. 2 These contests gave to the hills and 
valleys of the Clyde and Tweed — countries 
subsequently fertile in themes of romantic 
fiction and poetry — a foundation for heroic 
history. The death of Arthur is referred to 
a. d. 537, soon after which period a revival of 
Christianity began among the people whom he 
had defended. 3 

The birth of Kentigern, an event no less 
deeply covered with the mirage of mediaeval 
fable, 4 must be referred to the same period. 
Kentigern, also called Mungo (the Beloved), 
received his education in connection with that 
ancient Church north of the Tay once visited 
by Palladius, although his ordination by Ser- 

1 Geoffrey's British Hist., b. ix., x. 

2 Veitch, History and Poetry of the Scottish Border, chap. ii. 

3 Ibid., p. 68. * M'Lauchlan, 107-115. 



72 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

vanus, who had been ordained by Palladius, in- 
volves an interval of time which is incredible. 
Called by the king and clergy of Lanark, with 
the Christian people, then reduced to a small 
number, he consented to be their bishop. A 
bishop was invited from Ireland to ordain 
him. 1 Thus he entered upon his pastorate five 
or six years after the death of King Arthur. 
With long-sustained zeal he carried forward the 
revival of Christianity within the little kingdom, 
in opposition to encroaching idolatry. A num- 
ber of youths, accepting their education from 
Kentigern, followed his example and aided in 
the execution of his plans. They did not es- 
cape persecution from enemies at home. A 
strong party in favor of the old Druidical 
worship divided the nation, 2 and during the 
rule of a king of their persuasion, Kentigern 
had to take refuge in Wales. There he re- 
mained similarly employed until after the ac- 
cession of a Christian king in Lanark, Rhy- 
derch Hael, and Rhyderch's victory over the 
princes, leaders of the heathen party, in the 
battle of Ardderyd in the year 573. By that 
victory the Kymric tribes 3 from the firth of 
Clyde to Derwentwater were united in one 
kingdom under the name of Strathclyde, with 

1 Skene, ii. 184. 

2 Veitch, 101 ; Todd's St. Patrick, 33, etc. ; M'Lauchlan, 115-118. 

3 Veitch, 101 ; M'Lauchlan, 123-125. 



CHURCH OF STRATHCLYDE. 73 

its fortress-capital Dumbriton, now Dumbarton, 
in the religious interest of Christianity. 

Kentigern was welcomed back to his former 
charge. At first he took up his residence at 
Hoddam, in Dumfriesshire, no doubt to en- 
counter approaching heathenism on that fron- 
tier of Saxon occupancy. From thence he 
went into Galloway, and, as Jocelin says, 
cleansed from the foulness of idolatry and 
contagion of heresy that home of the Picts. 
Afterward returning to Glasgow, he continued 
to pursue his evangelical enterprise without in- 
terruption until his death. The principal dates 
in his life — his birth in 518, his ordination in 
543 and his death in 603 — are only approxi- 
mate. 1 His extant biographies — the fragment 
and the life by Jocelin — were not written until 
the twelfth century, more than five hundred 
years after his time, and are full of absurd 
miracles in the conventional mediaeval style. 
But, setting these aside, there is no good rea- 
son to doubt that Mungo was the main support 
of the Christian cause in the south of Scotland 
at a time when it was declining there under the 
fierce assaults of heathen enemies. His long- 
sustained reputation for knowledge and piety 
procured him influence in missionary excur- 
sions beyond the bounds of Strathclyde. 

1 Skene, ii. iq8. 



CHAPTER IX. 
COLUMBA. 

WHILE heathenism in North Britain was 
still resisting the work of Kentigern, the 
princes of Ireland were defenders of the Chris- 
tian faith, and some of them its ministers. It 
was one of the latter who proved the messen- 
ger of an effectual gospel to the unconverted 
Picts, whom no missionary's voice had yet ad- 
dressed. 

Columba, of royal descent in the family of 
O'Niel, was born in December, 521, at Gartan, 
in the county of Donegal. 1 " As he grew up he 
exhibited various qualities, as well of body as 
of mind, fitted to excite the admiration of his 
countrymen. He was of lofty stature ; he had 
a clear and commanding voice and a noble 
bearing. He could express himself with ease 
and gracefulness ; he had a quick perception 
and a sound judgment. He was an ardent 
student, and had great powers of application. 
His temper was hot, and he sometimes gave 
way to gusts of passion ; but with all he was 
just and generous, and his indignation was 

1 Reeves's Adamnan. 
74 




inf/raved Si-pvatlad 



lU'i-idn ISaurtt til' l',ilil"-ilton t, „ rhtv. Mi'oiiJuu-iH &■ .Vnn . 1 '/u'ltlfla 



COLUMBA. 75 

never so much excited as by the perversity 
of the wicked." His honorable birth and 
"personal endowments soon placed him in the 
position of a leader, and more than once he 
was able to control the political movements of 
the Irish princes." 1 Though he early resolved 
to attach himself to the service of the Church, 
his youth was greatly divided between it and 
the political and military conflicts of parties. 

As Columba approached middle age he broke 
away from all secular interests to devote himself 
solely to the work of the gospel. 2 From the lof- 
ty headlands of his native county, far over the 
intervening ocean, could be seen the grayish- 
blue mountains of the southern Hebrides — Islay, 
Jura, Colonsay and others. On some of those 
Columba knew that there were colonists from 
Ireland, converted before leaving home, but 
now without religious instructors. Others 
were descended from people who had left 
Ireland before Christianity reached it. And 
far out of sight beyond, under the cold dark 
blue sky of the north, on islands and main- 
land, lay tribe after tribe of Picts in a state 
of utter heathenism. Columba resolved to set 
apart the remainder of his days to preaching 
the gospel in those spiritually destitute regions. 
At the age of forty-two he found himself in con- 
dition to carry his design into effect. As a pres- 

1 K-'llen, Eccles Hist, of Ireland,\. 30,31. 2 M'Lauchlan, 150-151. 



?6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

byter of the Irish Church (a higher clerical 
rank he never bore), and accompanied by 
twelve assistants, in the year 563 he set sail in 
his currach, and after landing at several inter- 
mediate points fixed his residence upon Iona. 

That little island, about three miles and a half 
in length and one and a half in width, 1 lying off 
the south-western extremity of Mull, from which 
it is separated by a sound one mile and a half 
wide, and on every other side lashed by the 
free sweep of the Atlantic Ocean, was for Co- 
lumba conveniently situated within the terri- 
tories acquired by his countrymen, where they 
already had a church, and yet not far from the 
borders of the Picts, whose conversion he had in 
view. 2 At that point also he was protected by 
the chief of a Scottish colony, who gave him the 
island and was prepared to welcome his Chris- 
tian instructions. There, he and his assistants 
erecting for themselves such houses as they 
needed of the humble materials of wattles and 
earth, Columba set up one of those mission- 
ary schools which formed a feature of the old 
Irish and Scottish churches. Monastic insti- 
tutions they were in a certain sense — namely, 
in that their inmates lived together in common, 
with a degree of ascetic self-denial and in obe- 
dience to their own superior; but not monastic 
in the sense in which that term is most likely to 

1 Skene, ii. 89. 2 Ibid., ii. 34. 86-88. 



COLUMBA. yj 

be taken at the present day, inasmuch as they 
were under neither episcopal nor papal au- 
thority, and acknowledged no human superior 
outside of their own body, and in that the con- 
stituent members of their fraternity were clergy- 
men, having a view to missionary and pastoral 
work. Their separation of themselves from the 
world was not to secure merely their own sal- 
vation and power with God, but to present be- 
fore the heathen an example of Christian life as 
pure as possible, separate from the ways of 
sinful men, and to prepare missionaries and 
pastors, provide a central home for them, and 
oversee them and the affairs of the churches 
which they planted. 

It would misrepresent their character to call 
them monasteries without discrimination. Their 
monks were in reality all the clergy their Church 
had. Vows of obedience were exacted, but only 
to the president of their own college. Under 
his direction they were held, the lay members to 
their work for the community, and the clerical in 
readiness for missionary or pastoral duty as he 
and the fraternity saw fit ; or as students they 
pursued the course of preparation for the min- 
istry. They always made the monastic college 
their home. The plan, in short, was that of a 
well-regulated missionary station, and church 
extension consisted in multiplying such mission- 
ary stations. 



?8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

As they were planted among a people living 
in clans, they addressed themselves to the clan 
system. Instead of dividing the country into 
sections for distribution of Christian work, the 
missionaries accepted the natural grouping of 
the people. The clan was one great family, 
including its branch families, and for the most 
part inhabiting adjoining districts. The mission- 
ary college was a little family of clergymen with 
their students adapting itself to the clan organ- 
ization to carry religious instruction through all 
its ramifications. Accordingly, there was no call 
for a territorial distribution of parishes and dio- 
ceses or presbyteries. The missionaries used 
the order they found. And even when carried 
beyond the clans their method still had regard to 
the people rather than to the divisions of the land. 

Roman monasticism, with which that of Ire- 
land and that of Iona are liable to be confound- 
ed, had only begun its career under the hand of 
Benedict But even the older style of monas- 
tery had always been subject to the bishop of 
the diocese in which it was situated, or to the 
council, or to the bishop of Rome. Without 
the approval of one or the other it had no right 
to exist. Latterly, all that control fell into the 
hands of the pope. 1 In the Scottish Church 
there were no territorial bishops, no provincial, 
diocesan or general councils, and the pope was 

1 Gieseler, i. 510. 



COLUMBA. 79 

nothing more than a venerated name. The 
clerical fraternities were themselves the heads 
of ecclesiastical authority. 

Such an institution was now set up in Iona, 
from which to direct the operations of mission- 
ary enterprise, and in which to prepare men to 
be pastors for the future congregations. It was 
after the example of the Irish, but differed from 
them in that it was not planted for the benefit 
of a kindred tribe, and in that it was supported 
by the industry of its own members. It had no 
place for a territorial episcopacy or a presby- 
terian republic. It was itself the Church. 
Its brethren were the clergy, associated with 
a presbyter as their principal. In another 
aspect it was a missionary station cultivated 
into a theological college, on a manual-labor 
plan. Columba was not sent by the Church 
of Ireland, though he, and Iona after him, al= 
ways cherished filial relations to it. For the 
mission upon which he entered he had accept- 
ed his orders from the Lord, whose gospel he 
preached. And he acknowledged no standard 
of doctrine save that of the evangelists and 
apostles. The foundation of his instructions 
and of his preaching, his great instrument in 
the conversion of the heathen, was the word of 
God. He and his assistants did their Lord's 
work under their own responsibility, as they 
understood their Lord's commission. 



80 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

In his house on Iona, Columba ruled and 
instructed his clergy and assigned them to 
their places of duty — with authority, but not 
without consultation. As he was not a bish- 
op, but a presbyter, so all succeeding Scottish 
abbots of Iona were presbyters, and yet in the 
government of the Church took precedence of 
bishops. Bishops, in that connection, were rec- 
ognized as of a superior rank in the ministry, but 
assigned to an insignificant position in the work 
of the Church. One of them could ordain a bishop 
or administer the Eucharist without an assistant, 
and his superior rank was held in honor. But 
presbyters could ordain presbyters, and a pres- 
byter could also administer the Eucharist with- 
out an assistant if he chose. 1 The bishops were 
under the monastic rule, and as such were, in 
respect of jurisdiction, subject to the presbyter- 
abbot as the head of the monastery. 2 In short, 
bishops were only occasional visitors in Iona ; 
the system was one which had no place for them, 
and, although admitting their rank, never knew 
properly what to do with them. 1 As little had 
it any place for a church session, a presbytery 
or a synodal government. Its ruling power was 
the missionary college. 

The government of the early Scottish and 
Pictish churches was neither papal, episcopal 
nor presbyterian, as those systems now stand, 

1 Skene, ii. 94. 2 M'Lauchlan, 169, 170. 



COLUMBA. 8 1 

but monastic, or rather collegiate, in which the- 
ological schools were the rulers. They educa- 
ted the clergy, assigned them to their missionary 
or pastoral places, and were the authorities con- 
sulted when difficulties arose. In their college 
the clergy had their home, their place for study 
and their books. Out from it they went in their 
respective directions with instruction and pas- 
toral service for the clan in which they minis- 
tered, and thither they returned for rest and 
further preparation. All the religious houses 
of the Scottish Church were constituted after 
the example of Iona, to which they all volun- 
tarily conceded a primacy of honor. 

Ascetics were to be found, who withdrew to 
desert places, lonely islets in the ocean, and 
lived in utter solitude ; but in so doing they 
were outside of the church system, and not to 
be counted as belonging to a monastic order. 
They were mere voluntary anchorets. 1 

Columba began his evangelical work with 
preaching to the men of his near neighborhood, 
and for a revival of religion among the long- 
destitute Christians of the Scottish colony — 
long destitute of the means of grace. 

At the end of about two years from his leav- 
ing Ireland, and when his college, upon which 
all his other plans depended, had been put in 
working condition, the zealous missionary found 

1 M'Lauchlan, 176-180. 



82 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the way prepared for his enterprise of address- 
ing the gospel to the northern Picts. His first 
step was to visit the court of their king to obtain 
his consent. The journey was long, for King 
Brude was then residing in the neighborhood 
of Inverness, one hundred and fifty miles away, 
and much of that distance had to be traversed 
on foot. 1 At first, the king was not disposed to 
listen to his application, and forbade him admis- 
sion. The miracles whereby Columba overcame 
that opposition are the conspicuous events in Ad- 
amnan's narrative. 2 They seem to have been un- 
called for; the royal resistance was neither cruel 
nor obstinate, and the Pictish people were, for 
the most part, ready to give a hearing to the 
gospel. 3 

The Pictish king Brude, when converted, be- 
came zealous in the cause, and gave its mission- 
ary his hearty support. Columba had already 
the friendship of the Scottish colony in his neigh- 
borhood, and used his influence to secure them 
in possession of their territories, and obtain for 
them recognition of their independence from the 
head-king of Ireland. With these advantages 
he extended the operations of his Church as far 
as those friendly princes ruled, by planting new 
religious houses in both kingdoms of Scots and 

1 M'Lauchlan, 155, 156. 

2 Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, Reeves's ed., lib. ii., c. 35, 36. 

3 M'Lauchlan, 157-159- 



COLUMBA. 83 

Picts, in the islands as well as on the mainland, 
and in Ireland. By the end of twelve years his 
enterprise was almost complete, as far as pro- 
fession was concerned. The western and cen- 
tral Highlands were brought under Christian 
instruction, and the whole nation of the Picts 
was formally added to the Church. 1 

Subsequently, evangelical work was carried 
more in detail through the heart of the main- 
land to the east, and relations were established 
with Kentigern and the Church of Strathclyde. 
When prosecuting his work in that direction 
down the river Tay, perhaps in the year 584, 
Columba took occasion to visit Kentigern in 
his residence at Glasgow. He was received 
with warm affection. The two devoted Chris- 
tian workers spent several days together, "con- 
versing on the things of God and what con- 
cerned the salvation of souls." 2 

The area covered by the missions of Columba 
and his companions, added to that of Strathclyde 
and Galloway, where the inheritance of the older 
British churches had just been revived, consti- 
tuted all that is now Scotland, except the Saxon 
and Scandinavian settlements on the eastern 
coast. 

Columba died on Iona in 597. 3 His burial- 
place continued long afterward to be the most 

1 Skene, ii. 127. 2 Ibid., ii. 194-196. 

3 Reeves's Adamnan, lib. iii., c. 23. 



84 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

venerated cemetery in Scotland, the chosen rest- 
ing-place of chiefs and kings. His little isle be- 
came an illustrious seat of Christian learning, 
from which went out ministers of the gospel, 
with evangelical and educating influences, over 
all Scotland, island and mainland, and far be- 
yond its bounds. 

Columba was a man of superior education 
among the men of his time in his own coun- 
try, and the Irish Scots were then the lights of 
civilization for the British Isles. He wrote both 
verse and prose in Latin and in Irish, and his 
Latin style w r as marked by accuracy and ease. 
His ecclesiastical system was also educational. 
After the example of the Irish monasteries, 
his mission-stations, planted at many different 
places for convenience of Christian work, were 
also colleges for the education of youth and the 
culture of religious literature. 1 The work of 
the school consisted in the study of the Latin 
language, of religious Latin literature, and es- 
pecially of the Latin Bible, with the doctrines of 
revelation as then classified and defined, the 
practice of religious duties, observances of 
devotion, and the training necessary to the 
proper exercise of ministerial functions. The 
standard of doctrine was the Bible. Much 
time was devoted to copying it or portions 
of it, and in the study of it help was ob- 

1 Skene, ii. 75, 127, etc. 



COLUMBA. 85 

tained from such commentaries and summa- 
ries of its contents as their learned men had 
prepared. Some of the brethren gave part of 
their time to original composition and to keep- 
ing a record of passing events. But the great 
theme of their studies at home and their preach- 
ing among the people was the gospel of salva- 
tion. 

Of the parts of their public worship, and what 
order they observed in it, little can be ascertained. 
Among the books mentioned as studied in Iona 
there is no word of a missal. Perhaps their mis- 
sionaries demanded a freedom in adapting means 
to unforeseen circumstances more than would be 
compatible with a prescribed formulary. 1 But 
doubtless there was an established order for all 
ordinary occasions. The elements of which the 
daily service consisted were recitation of psalms, 
and sometimes perhaps passages of other Script- 
ure ; and prayer, of such frequent occurrence 
with them on other occasions, could not be ab- 
sent from their social worship. On the Lord's 
Day the principal part of the service was the 
Eucharist. When several presbyters were pres- 
ent, one was selected to officiate, who mieht 
invite a brother-presbyter to break bread with 
him. If a bishop ministered, "he broke the 
bread alone." 2 But that was in the social ser- 
vice of the fraternity. Before the people to 

1 M'Lauchlan, 188. 2 Skene, ii. 102. 



86 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

whom their mission was addressed, beyond all 
doubt the chief part of worship was preaching 
the gospel. They made no use of pictures or 
images as helps in devotion ; they did not 
appeal to the intercession of saints nor adore 
the Virgin Mary. 

Yet it would be a mistake to conceive of those 
brethren of Iona as entirely free from the super- 
stitious notions accumulating in their time. Cel- 
ibacy they might have defended as a state more 
expedient for them in the enterprise they had 
undertaken, but they certainly deemed it holier 
than that of God's own institution. Their ton- 
sure, or peculiar cut of the hair, shaven close 
over the fore part of the head, had nothing but 
superstition to recommend it. Their use of the 
cross as a holy sign amounted to an incanta- 
tion. Living in colleges or monastic cells they 
looked upon as especially favorable to devotion 
and service acceptable to God. Some of their 
practices were peculiar to themselves and the 
Irish Church to which they belonged, such as 
their monastic tonsure, and their observance 
of Easter after the example, as they under- 
stood it, of the apostle John. But the greatest 
errors of the Catholic Church, so fast accumula- 
ting in the sixth century, had not yet corrupted 
their faith. 

After the conversion of the northern Picts, 
and the revival of Christianity among the 



COLUMBA. 87 

Scottish colonists from Ireland, the Columbite 
missionaries followed the course marked out by 
their founder, and extended their enterprise to 
the interior of the mainland south, until their 
religious influence united with that of Strath- 
clycfe and touched the borders of the Teutonic 
settlers on the eastern coast, who were still 
heathen. 



CHAPTER X. 

LINDISFARNE. 

IN the year 635, Oswald, heir of the Saxon 
kingdom of Northumbria, having been con- 
verted to Christianity during a residence of 
several years among the Scots, succeeded to 
the throne of his fathers. Earnestly desiring 
to have his subjects instructed in the gospel, he 
applied to the Scottish Church for a missionary. 
One of the brethren from Iona was sent to him, 
but proved to be of temper too severe, and, 
meeting with no success, returned in discour- 
agement. His place was better filled by Aidan, 
another priest from the same school, and a man 
of singular meekness, piety and moderation, who 
was received with high respect by both king and 
people. His progress was rapid and of sound 
effect. Oswald gave him a residence not unlike 
that which he had left in the Highlands. 

Eight miles south of Berwick, at the foot of 
the seaward hills of Northumberland, and sep- 
arated from them by a belt of water about two 
miles broad, but at one place almost entirely 
withdrawn at low tide, lies the island of Lindis- 

88 



LINDISFARNE. 89 

fame. It is only seven miles in circumference, 
and contains a smaller proportion of arable land 
than Iona. One-third of it, to the north, is only 
a group of sandbanks. On the south-east a 
lofty rock rises precipitously from the plain, 
crowned with a castle looking southward, while 
on the south-west a high rocky embankment 
runs east and west close to the water's edge. 
Between these two elevations lies a convenient 
little harbor for small craft. From the rocky 
embankment extends a stretch of rising ground 
along the western side of the island until it joins 
the sandhills of the northern extremity. On that 
rising ground did Aidan build his modest home, 
close under the shelter of the embankment. The 
finer structures that followed took their places 
successively farther to the north, and there now 
moulder their ruins, save those of Aidan's house, 
which, afterward rebuilt by Finan of wood and 
thatched with reeds, is .entirely gone. On that 
same rising ground, a short distance from the 
ruins to the north, stands the village of the 
present day. There other Scottish clergy came 
to the assistance of Aidan, and younger men 
were educated for the ministry. Lindisfarne 
became another seat of Christian learning, an 
Iona for Northumbria, and out from it proceed- 
ed missionaries who traveled in all directions 
through the provinces over which Oswald 
ruled, preaching the gospel. But those prov- 



90 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

inces of Northumbria then extended along the 
eastern border of the Strathclyde kingdom as far 
to the northward as the firth of Forth. 

Aidan, founder of the mission college on Lin- 
disfarne, died in 651, after having planted and 
conducted the affairs of the Church in North- 
umbria for sixteen years. Finan, another monk 
from Iona, took his place and proved a worthy 
successor. 

South of Northumbria lay another Teutonic 
kingdom — that of Mercia, sometimes called of 
the Middle Angles, and east of Mercia that of 
the East Angles, corresponding nearly to the 
present Norfolk and Suffolk, and farther south 
that of the East Saxons. To all these the same 
Christian enterprise extended. 

In 653, Peada, heir to the crown of Mercia, 
was united by marriage with the royal family 
of Northumbria, and upon hearing the gospel 
preached declared himself a believer in it. 
Missionaries, at his request, were sent from 
Lindisfarne to instruct his people; and so 
readily was their doctrine received that be- 
fore the year elapsed Finan could afford to 
withdraw one of their number for the pur- 
pose of sending him among the East Angles. 
Finan himself went to preach among the same 
people, and baptized their king, Sigibert, to- 
gether with his immediate followers. And 
the planting of Christian congregations went 



LINDISFA RNE. 9 1 

on, going southward into the land of the East 
Saxons. 

Iona was now at the height of her influence. 
Christian zeal had carried the gospel over Scot- 
land to the conversion of its heathen and the 
revival of religion among nominal Christians, 
and into the Teutonic settlements of Eng- 
land from the Forth to the Thames. Care 
had also been taken to set up or to continue 
colleges for ministerial education. To those 
at Whithorn, 1 Culross and Abernethy, that of 
Kentigern at Glasgow and of Ternan at Aber- 
deen, and many of less dintinction elsewhere, 
were now added Coldingham and Melrose 
among the Saxons on the Tweed, and for 
the farther south the greater institution on 
Lindisfarne. 

But another missionary enterprise was at the 
same time advancing from the south. In the 
year when Columba died (597) a party of Ben- 
edictine monks, with Augustin and Lawrence at 
their head, landed on the coast of Kent. They 
came directly from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory 
I. Ethelbert, king of Kent, influenced, it is said, 
by his queen, a Christian princess of the royal 
house of the Franks, received them favorably, 
and after a short interval professed his belief 
in their creed. His example was followed by 
his people, ten thousand of whom were bap- 

1 Bede, v. 23. 



92 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

tized on the following Christmas. Canterbury 
was constituted an archbishopric, and Augustin 
its first incumbent. 

The plans of the Romish monks wrought 
prosperously. Proceeding northward, it was 
not long until they encountered the mission- 
aries of Lindisfarne. On several points their 
teaching and observances were found to differ. 
In the controversy which arose, Lindisfarne, sus- 
tained from Iona, was ill matched with Canter- 
bury, backed by all the weight of Rome. The 
Romish monks, proceeding northward and by 
way of the centre of England, and among the 
Christian Britons of the west, strove as much 
to bring the British churches into conformity 
with their own practice as to convert the hea- 
then. On the eastern side of the country, while 
Aidan was in the midst of his work in North- 
umbria, they had succeeded in planting a mis- 
sionary as far north as York ; but so little was 
he encouraged by success that he soon with- 
drew, and the ground was forthwith occupied 
by men from Lindisfarne. Reinforcements 
were sent out from Canterbury, by whom the 
Scottish missionaries were charged with error 
on the subject of their tonsure and in their 
way of observing the Easter festival. 

During the administration of Coleman as 
principal of Lindisfarne, King Oswy of North- 
umbria called a conference of clergy, consti- 



LINDISFARNE. 93 

tuted of representatives from both sides, to settle 
the dispute. It took place in 664, in a convent 
near Whitby, and was attended by King Oswy 
and his son Alfrid, the former favoring the 
Scottish and the latter the Romish side. The 
chief speakers were Wilfrid, a Saxon priest, 
and Coleman. For the Scottish practice Cole- 
man pled the example of Columba and his 
predecessors, traced back to the apostle John. 
Wilfrid endeavored to show that the Scottish 
way of observing Easter did not entirely coin- 
cide with that of John, belittled the name of Co- 
lumba, and urged for the authority of the pope 
that he was the successor of the apostle Peter, 
to whom Christ had said, " Thou art Peter, and 
upon this rock I will build my Church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and 
to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom 
of heaven." 

At that point King Oswy turned earnestly 
to Coleman with the question, " Is it true 
that these words were spoken to Peter by 
our Lord?" "It is true, O king," Coleman 
replied. " Can you show any such power given 
to Columba ?" asked the king. Coleman an- 
swered, " None." Then, addressing both the 
debaters, the king inquired, " Do you both 
agree that these words were principally di- 
rected to Peter, and that the keys of heaven 



94 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

were given to him by our Lord?" They both 
answered, "We do." 

Without waiting for any further explanation 
or discussion, he forthwith gave his judgment : 
" I also say unto you that he is the doorkeeper, 
whom I will not contradict, but will, as far as I 
know and am able, in all things obey his de- 
crees, lest when I come to the gates of the 
kingdom of heaven there should be none to 
open them, he being my adversary who is 
proved to have the keys." 

In that decision most of those present coin- 
cided. Only the keeping of Easter and the 
tonsure were discussed on that occasion. But 
the Scottish Church differed from the Romish 
on more vital points than these, as appeared in 
a broader conflict at a later time. 

Coleman, defeated but not convinced, retired 
from Northumbria, and spent the rest of his 
days among his own people. Tuda, another 
Scottish priest, more compliant with the south- 
ern discipline, succeeded him in office for a 
brief term, but died of the pestilence in the 
same year. 

The conformity of those who came after Tuda 
proved to be all that Canterbury could desire. 
The island school of Northumbria, with its 
missions, passed entirely out of the Scottish 
Church and took its place as a Romish mon- 



LINDISFA RNE. 9 5 

astery. 1 The most effective agent in bringing 
about that change, and in persuading the breth- 
ren to become Romish monks, was Cuthbert, 
who received his reward in the most miraculous 
honors of sainthood. 

1 Bede, H. E., iii. 25, 26. 



CHAPTER XI. 

DECLINE OF IONA. 

AFTER the conference at Whitby calam- 
ities fell fast upon Iona. First came the 
loss of her missions in England, with their 
principal college on Lindisfarne, which within 
the next ten years were all gathered into the net 
of the Roman fisherman. The Scottish minis- 
ters, who could not submit to that transfer, with- 
drew into their own country. The Saxons of 
Northumbria extended their rule into Galloway, 
where early in the next century they created a 
bishopric with its seat at Whithorn, and sub- 
jected it to the metropolitan of York. 1 The 
ambition of their king, Egfrid, prompted him 
to push their fortune in war along the north- 
eastern coast. In 685 he invaded the territory 
of the Picts beyond the Tay, but encountered a 
ruinous defeat, which compelled the withdrawal 
of his boundary to the south of the Tweed. 

That great gain to the Picts decided the weight 
of political power in their favor over both Scots 
and Britons. Their victorious king, Nectan, 
assumed his position accordingly. Observing 

1 Bede, H. £., b. v. 23. 
96 



DECLINE OF IONA. 97 

that the Saxon churches had all separated from 
Iona, he entered into particular inquiries on the 
subject, and in 710 sent into Northumbria, to 
Ceolfrid, abbot of Jarrow, desiring instructions 
touching the proper tonsure for the clergy and 
the proper observance of Easter, and asking 
for architects to build a church in his kingdom 
after the Roman manner, which he would ded- 
icate to St. Peter. He also promised that he 
and his people would follow the custom of the 
Roman Church as far as they could obtain know- 
ledge of it in their remote quarter of the world 
and imperfect acquaintance with the Roman lan- 
guage. Ceolfrid complied with the request, and 
sent full instructions on the points of inquiry by 
the hands of the architects who were to build 
the church. The king accepted them, and 
forthwith decreed the Roman observance of 
Easter and the tonsure called that of St. Peter 
for the clergy. 1 A few years later (718) the 
Columbans, who refused to submit, were ban- 
ished, and their institutions thrown open to 
Saxon monks, or others who felt free to con- 
form to the new law. 

Repeated attacks were made upon Iona her- 
self from the same quarter. Adamnan, one of 
her own fraternity, and abbot from 679 to 704, 
having traveled in England and visited the same 
Ceolfrid of Jarrow, was by him persuaded to ac- 

1 Bede, H. £., b. v., c. 21. 



gS THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

cept the Romish ways. Upon his return he 
tried to introduce them at home, but succeeded 
in only creating a schism, which ended in the 
victory of the Scottish party. Twelve years 
after Adamnan's death, Egbert, a Saxon priest, 
went to Iona and resided among the brethren 
thirteen years — long enough to convert them, 
as far as the proper time for Easter and the 
place and shape of the tonsure were concerned, 
and having done so died in peace. 1 

Controversies about a monkish way of shav- 
ing a part of the head and the precise day of 
observing Easter may be considered of import- 
ance by some persons, by others of none ; but in 
this case they demonstrate one thing worth no- 
tice — namely, that the Scottish Church of those 
days, with Iona at her head, held no relations to 
Rome and recognized no binding force in the 
pope's authority ; and when some of her people 
conformed to Romish practices, it was through 
persuasion of their Saxon neighbors or obedi- 
ence to an arbitrary king, and not because their 
Church acknowledged a papal right to their 
allegiance. 

The Picts could not, as a whole, have been 
satisfied with the violent measures of Nectan. 
Their Church fell into disorder. It was left al- 
most destitute of a ministry. To supply it 
with Saxons was impracticable. Whatever the 

1 Bede, H £., b. v., c. 22. 



DECLINE OF I ON A. 99 

king's charity might be, it was not reasonable 
to expect that his people should willingly accept 
their religious counsels and consolations from 
the ranks of their bitterest hereditary enemies. 
Some of the vacated or partly vacated Colum- 
ban houses were seized by laymen, and under 
the pretence of providing a ministry turned to 
the account of their own temporal interests, 
Nectan withdrew from the strife of business 
to spend his last days in exercises of religion, 

In that embarrassed condition of the Pictish 
Church a new class of clergy made their ap- 
pearance, with an organization similar to that 
of the Columban, and filling their place in con- 
ducting the more spiritual parts of worship. 

From the time of the immediate successors 
of St. Patrick the practice of solitary asceticism 
prevailing on the Continent extended also to 
Ireland. Men of earnest but gloomy piety 
sought lonely places in some wilderness or 
far-off islet in the ocean, where in solitude 
they devoted their days to religious exercises 
and meditation. Not belonging to any monas- 
tic order nor bound by obligatory rule, they 
lived each according to his own plan. On the 
Continent such independent ascetics were in 
great numbers scattered about in desert 
places, but some also in the neighborhood 
of cities. Most of them, no doubt, earnest, 
godly devotees, they all enjoyed the reputa- 



100 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

tion of extraordinary piety, and were often, 
as a class, termed Deicolcs, that is, God- wor- 
shipers, meaning that they were men who 
minded no other business than the worship 
of God. To the Irish recluses the same 
name was applied, but in the reverse order 
of its component parts — Ceilede, servants of 
God. 

The vast increase of such solitaries, and 
their irrresponsible character, created anxiety 
in the Catholic Church, and several councils 
in the seventh century took action with a 
view to bring them under some common 
restraint and to diminish their numbers. 
Among those of Irish and Scottish connec- 
tion — for there were many such belonging to 
the Columban Church — a similar feeling began 
to actuate some of themselves. They had come 
to the belief that it would be profitable for two 
or three of them to occupy cells in each other's 
neighborhood. Accordingly, numbers of such 
little neighborhoods of hermits grew up in Ire- 
land. Without surrendering their solitary habits 
and freedom, their vicinity to one another must 
have exerted over them an influence of regula- 
tion, and principles of community came to be 
agreed upon. 

It was an association of this kind which ap- 
peared in the land of the Picts soon after the 
expulsion of the Columban ministry, and so- 



DECLINE OF ION A. IOI 

berly taking their place, which they continued 
to fill acceptably, and with high reputation for 
some of the best features of a pastoral minis- 
try. Among the Picts they were called Keledei, 
which in course of time changed to Culdee, of 
the same meaning with the Irish and continen- 
tal terms. 

Like the Scottish brethren, they were coeno- 
bites, but not regular monks. They were secu- 
lar clergy, and their institutions were colleges, 
not monasteries — more like cloisters of secular 
canons in the Catholic Church. Yet their free- 
dom was greater than that of secular canons. 
They were under no vow of celibacy, and 
some of them were married. So nearly did 
their fraternities resemble those of the Co- 
lumban type that, although not quite the 
same, it is not surprising that the two should 
have been identified by writers both mediaeval 
and recent, Roman Catholic and Protestant. 
Having their origin also in the same Irish 
Church, the Columbans and Culdees held to 
the same theological doctrines. 1 In their way 
of living they were "accustomed to fastings and 
sacred vigils at certain seasons, intent on psalms 
and prayers and meditation on the divine word, 
and content with sparing diet and dress," they 
suffered no time of the day to pass without its 
proper employment. 

1 Skene, ii. ch. vi. ; M'Lauchlan, ch. xix. 



102 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Although by the victories of Nectan, and 
afterward of Angus, who succeeded to the 
Pictish throne in 731, the superiority in force 
of the Picts over both Scots and Britons was 
proved, and Saxon dominion was pushed back 
to the south of the Tweed, the Saxon people 
were not driven out, nor did Saxon invasion 
cease. The country between the Forth and 
Tweed continued to be the seat of war. Tra- 
dition narrates that in a campaign within those 
bounds King Angus had a vision of St. Andrew 
or heard his voice in the air, promising him vic- 
tory " if he will dedicate the tenth of his posses- 
sions to God and St. Andrew." Putting faith 
in the saint, he proved victorious. On his way 
home he was " met by Regulus, a monk from 
Constantinople, with relics of St. Andrew." 1 
And the king, thus providentially constrained, 
recognized his obligations, and founded a new 
religious house at Mucross in Fifeshire, which 
he dedicated to St. Andrew as the patron saint 
of his kingdom. 2 

Early in the ninth century the people of North 
Britain first beheld the swift-sailing ships of the 
Vikings. In their long wars with Charlemagne 
the northern Germans had been compelled to 
settle on the lands assigned them or to retreat 
beyond the reach of the emperor's conquests. 
Those who chose the latter found themselves 

1 Skene, i. 296, 297. 2 Ibid , ii. 272. 



DECLINE OE IONA. I03 

confined to wildernesses, mountains and marshes, 
where a brief summer and a scanty and un- 
kindly soil left little to be hoped from culture. 
Daring enterprise looked out upon the sea. 
The land could supply them with timber, iron 
and pitch and the safe refuge of harbors. For 
everything else they trusted to the sea. Fish 
were to be gathered from its waters, an inex- 
haustible supply, and its surface could carry 
them to partake in the harvests and collected 
products of lands more highly favored. They 
had been driven by violence from their own 
possessions ; might they not indemnify them- 
selves from the surplus of others ? Sweeping 
over the ocean from the fiords of Norway, their 
ships flitted along the coasts of Scotland and 
England and swarmed among the islands and 
the sea-lochs of the western Highlands. Push- 
ing into some inviting scene on land, their war- 
riors would leap ashore, rush upon whatever 
they found available for plunder, hurry it on 
board, and disappear as swiftly as they came. 
Churches and other religious houses, usually 
containing wealthy deposits, the gifts of grate- 
ful piety, were a favorite quarry for those hunt- 
ers of the sea. 

Iona had become a much-frequented shrine 
of pilgrimage, enriched by donations, favored 
by kings — some of whom were proud to enroll 
themselves among- the brethren — and sought as 



104 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the place of sepulture for those whom their 
friends or the Scottish nation desired to honor. 
The little isle had ceased to enjoy the safety of 
poverty and insignificance. It was the most 
conspicuous mark for piracy. As early as 802 
its religious houses were visited by the sea- 
kings, plundered and burned. Four years 
later the invasion was renewed, the island 
ravaged and many of the brethren slain. 
The richness of the booty attracted other 
adventurers of the same class, and the re- 
peatedly repaired buildings were subjected to 
repeated desolation. 

In 814 a new Columbite church was com- 
pleted at Kells, 1 in the county of Meath in 
Ireland, which became a refuge for residents 
of Iona when harassed in their own exposed 
situation. In Scotland also, for greater secu- 
rity, as well as for other reasons, much of the 
weight of Columbite churchism was about the 
same time transferred by Constantine, king of 
the Picts, to Dunkeld, 1 although even that in- 
land town was not entirely safe from piratical 
ravages. The island sanctuary was subse- 
quently revived, and continued long to be a 
highly venerated seat of Christian learning, 
but its primacy came to an end, divided be- 
tween Ireland and the Scottish mainland. 

In the early part of the ninth century the 

1 Skene, i. 305. 



DECLINE OF IONA. 105 

Pictish kings had put their people at the head 
of the nations in Scotland. But a great calam- 
ity followed soon after. Disastrously defeated, 
in 839, by a piratical invasion of the Danes, 
they were unable to sustain themselves in war 
with their Scottish neighbors. Upon the death 
of the last heir of their dynasty, in 844, Ken- 
neth, king of the Scots, succeeded to the Pict- 
ish throne. 1 The Scottish seat of destiny was 
removed from the palace of Dunstaffnage to 
the Pictish capital at Scone, and the two 
crowns were permanently united. 2 At first the 
new kingdom was that of the Picts and Scots, 
but in course of time the name "Pict" fell out 
of use, and that of "Scot" covered the whole; 
and that very naturally in days when the king 
was the chief bond of nationality. The united 
kingdom received the name Alban or Scotia. 

Meanwhile, the old British kingdom of Strath- 
clyde, with its head of authority at Glasgow, still 
retained its separate independence, although, 
together with Galloway, greatly weakened by 
incursions from their northern neighbors and 
from the Saxons of Northumbria. Between 
the Forth and Tweed, the eastern part of the 
country, called Saxonia, was still a debatable 
land, and those who contended for it on both 
sides were equally harassed by Northmen from 
the sea. 

1 Skene, i. 308-310. 2 Buchanan, lib. vi. LXIX. Rex, near the end. 



I06 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

It was in the reign of the Pictish king Con- 
stantine, who died in 820, 1 that the new college 
at Dunkeld was founded, 1 being the third among 
that people, Abernethy being the first and St. 
Andrews the second. Afterward, when Scone 
became the capital of the united kingdom, and 
Dunstaffnage was deserted, Iona was left at a 
distance from all protection. As a place of 
royal sepulture it also became inconvenient. 
Lying, as it did, in the way of the Vikings as 
they swept through the Western Isles to the 
coasts of Ireland, nothing but poverty could 
save the lives of its inhabitants. In conse- 
quence of the union of the Scots with the 
Picts the connections between the royal fam- 
ilies of the Scots and those of Ireland became 
relaxed. From neither side could Iona be main- 
tained in its former rank. 

The Scottish king Kenneth, on coming to the 
throne of the Picts, resolved to restore the Co- 
lumban Church to its power among that people, 
from whom it had been expelled in the forego- 
ing century. To that end he selected Dunkeld, 
perhaps as the most central seat for ecclesi- 
astical supremacy over the Columbans in his 
dominions, and, there erecting a new church 
building, or perhaps renewing that of Con- 
stantine, removed to it a part of the relics 
of Columba. 2 

1 Skene, i. 305. 2 Ibid., ii. 307. 



DECLINE OF ION A. IO7 

At first the Scandinavian invaders were 
heathen, but as time went on intercourse 
with the Christians among whom they lived 
brought about the conversion of their set- 
tlers, who became Christian according to the 
instructions proceeding from Iona. Later im- 
migrations from Norway brought Christians af- 
ter the type of Romanism planted in their native 
land by the successors of Anschar. 1 But that in 
the Hebrides was a small element of popula- 
tion, and created no discord in the religion of 
the country. They now ceased to be plunder- 
ing Vikings. Shetland and the Orkneys were 
completely under Norwegian rule, and contin- 
ued so to be until the fifteenth century. 2 

Scottish clergy of the Columbite school had 
carried the gospel to those northern islands, 
but, exposed to the full storm of Norwegian 
warfare, they seem to have been early exter- 
minated. Tales are told also of their missions 
to the Faroe Islands, to Iceland and to Green- 
land, and even of their enterprise, or desperate 
flight from persecution, beyond the ocean to the 
coast of North America. 3 Such traditions bear 
testimony at least to a prevailing belief in the 
greatness of their missionary courage and de- 
votion. 

1 Maclear, The Northmen. 2 Ibid. ; Skene, i. 375-379. 

3 Brit, and For. Evangel. Rev. for July, 188 1, iii. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTIAND. 

OVER Europe in general the tenth century 
was a period of great depression. Ignor- 
ance prevailed. There was no popular educa- 
tion. Even among families of wealth and high 
rank only the members designed for the priest- 
hood were instructed in letters. For the rest 
it was deemed enough to learn how to manage 
a horse and wield their weapons. Ecclesiastics, 
content with their superiority of intelligence and 
the submission of the multitude, indulged their 
indolence. Spiritual enterprise lay torpid. The 
energies of the great Catholic Church were ex- 
pended chiefly upon the enlargement of her 
endowments and increase of her subjects and 
power. The proper work of the gospel lan- 
guished, and ecclesiasticism became secular. 
The 4 Scottish severed from the Catholic Church, 
and thereby saved from partaking in her evils, 
suffered from other evils native to itself. 

Among the many peoples who divided the 
territory of North Britain, the Picts had hith- 
erto been strongest. By the arrival of the 
Northmen their superiority was divided with 

108 



CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. IO9 

a dangerous competitor. The friendly colony 
of Dalriad Scots had grown into a kingdom. 
Although a warlike people, their progress had 
not been alarming to their neighbors, but 
rather connected with the diffusion of Chris- 
tianity. Iona was within their bounds, and 
their seat of royalty was not far of! at Dun- 
staffnage in Lorn. In respect to religion the 
Scots had long submitted to a grievance from 
their Pictish neighbors, whom their mission- 
aries had converted. Kings of the Picts, be- 
coming acquainted with Romish practices from 
Saxon monks, had imposed them on the Scot- 
tish Church in their dominions, driving the 
Scottish clergy into banishment and alienating 
the institutions they had founded. 

Union of the two nations in one kingdom 
under a Scottish dynasty formed a new power 
which might hope to resist the Northmen. 
But it needed compacting by a sense of satis- 
faction on both sides. Among the measures 
necessary to that end, agreement on the sub- 
ject of religion was most of all necessary. 
Of that the early kings of the united kingdom 
seem to have been well aware. By Kenneth, 
the first of that line, freedom was at once 
secured for the Scottish clergy in his Pictish 
provinces, and, as far as practicable, restora- 
tion of the religious houses from which they 
had been expelled. And on the other side, 



HO THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the place of Iona as a religious centre was 
given to Dunkeld in the land of the Picts, 
and where already stood a Pictish church. 

As another element of compromise, the ab- 
bot of Dunkeld was made also bishop over 
the territories of the Picts which had come 
under Kenneth's rule. Thus the same per- 
son, "as abbot of Dunkeld, occupied toward 
the Columban monasteries in Scotland the 
same position as had belonged to Iona," while 
as bishop " he was the recognized head of the 
Pictish Church." 1 In the next reign these 
offices were separated, the episcopal office 
being transferred to Abernethy, but still in 
the land of the Picts, and only one bishop for 
the whole kingdom. 1 

Girig, the fifth king in that list, although 
apparently of foreign birth, is honored on the 
ancient record of the Picts and Scots as he 
who first gave freedom to the Scottish Church, 
which until that time had been in bondage un- 
der the law and usage of the Picts. 2 Perhaps 
he added to what Kenneth had done the relief 
of church property from the bondage of sec- 
ular exactions which it had suffered under Pict- 
ish rule. 3 

Seven Scottish kings reigned within the tenth 
century over the united kingdom, now called 
Alban. Of these the first and most eminent 

1 Skene, ii. 308. 2 Ibid., i. 333. 3 Ibid., 320-323. 



CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. Ill 

was Constantine, second of that name in the 
Scottish line. In the beginning of his reign 
Norwegian invasion upon the centre of his king- 
dom was finally repelled, and Danish pirates in 
East Lothian were constrained to retire far- 
ther south from the territory over which he 
ruled. In both of those hard conflicts the 
standard was the pastoral staff of Columba. 1 

Constantine was less successful in his wars 
with the kingdom of Wessex. On that side he 
had to contend against the illustrious Saxon 
monarch Athelstan, who met his movements 
southward by a retaliating raid upon the heart 
of his dominions, and finally, in 937, termi- 
nated his campaigns by the disastrous battle 
of Brunanburh. 

After his early success in war with the Nor- 
wegians and Danes, Constantine gave much 
care and labor to the consolidation of his king- 
dom and to the obliterating of national distinc- 
tions among his subjects, endeavoring to put 
all upon a fair legal and religious equality. In 
the sixth year of his reign he convoked a great 
assembly on the Moothill, near the "royal city 
of Scone," in which he and Kellach, a bishop, 
assumed a solemn obligation to observe the 
laws and discipline of the faith and the rights 
of the churches and of the gospel, and that 
they should be maintained on a footing of 

1 Skene, i. 347, 348. 



112 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

equality with the Scots. 1 By this declaration 
the Pictish and Scottish churches were to be 
united, and one bishop set over them, whose 
residence was to be in St. Andrews. Kellach 
was himself the first of that line of bishops. 
His jurisdiction was the whole united kingdom 
of the Scots and Picts, then called Alban, after- 
ward Scotia. That kingdom, under Constan- 
tine, included all the mainland from Loch Broom 
and Dornoch Firth on the north to the Forth 
and Clyde and the extremity of Kintyre on the 
south. Caithness and Sutherland, with all the 
island groups — Orkney, Shetland and Heb- 
rides — were in possession of the Norwegians. 
South of the Clyde and Forth, the east was 
occupied by Saxons, the extreme south-west 
by Celts of Galloway, and the centre, from the 
firth of Clyde and the Atlantic Ocean to the 
Solway, constituted the kingdom of Strath- 
clyde, otherwise called that of the North Cum- 
brian Britons. The Isle of Man was held by 
the Danes, who had also possessions in Ire- 
land. After a busy and agitated reign Con- 
stantine II. withdrew from the cares of state, 
and spent the last nine years of his life in the 
duties of religion among the clerical fraternity 
of St. Andrews. 

Malcolm I., the successor of Constantine, at- 
tempted to extend the borders of his kingdom 

1 Skene, i. 340; ii. 323, 324; M'Lauchlan, 308, 309. 



CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. II3 

on the north, to include all the mainland in that 
direction. But he failed to carry them north of 
Moray, nor even in that province was his rule 
firmly established. Meanwhile, further additions 
were made on the south. The Danish kings of 
Ireland were making effort to annex Northum- 
bria to their conquests. Landing on the coast of 
Cumbria (the present Cumberland and West- 
moreland), they overran it and made it their path 
to a greater object of their ambition. For the 
Northumbrians had chosen "Olaf of Ireland for 
their king." But Edmund, brother of Athelstan, 
and his successor on the English throne, defeated 
their plans, and in 944 removed all resistance to 
himself from Northumberland. The next year, 
to break off its communications with Ireland, he 
reduced Cumberland, and gave it to Malcolm, 
king of the Scots, on condition of co-operating 
with him both by land and sea. 1 Upon Ed- 
mund's death, Edred Atheling brought all 
Northumberland under English rule (954). 
And thus the border of England was carried 
to the Tweed, while the dominions of the Scot- 
tish king extended on the south into Cumber- 
land and Westmoreland. 

The same year Malcolm lost his life in a 
further attempt on Moray. In the succeeding 
reign of Indulph (954-962) the Scots obtained 
possession of Edinburgh, 2 a strong base for 

1 Skene, i. 361-363. » Ibid., i. 365. 



114 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

movement upon the Saxon settlements to the 
south-east. And after the less important reigns 
of Duff and Cuilean, the next king, Kenneth 
II., actually turned his enterprise in that direc- 
tion. His ambition was to reduce the inter- 
vening territory and annex Northumberland to 
Scotland, while the English king insisted upon 
his claim to the eastern coast as far as the 
Forth. Battles were fought, but the perma- 
nent change on either side was small. On the 
north, Norwegian dominion had returned to the 
southern borders of Moray, under the valorous 
leadership of Sigurd the Stout, who held his 
hereditary earldom of Caithness in spite of all 
the force of the Scots, and annually made his 
expedition to the Hebrides and to Ireland, 
and added to the territory of his fathers the 
provinces of Moray and Ross, with a large 
extent of country down the western coast into 
Argyll. 

Kenneth, thus limited by strong enemies on 
both north and south, was constrained to con- 
fine the efforts of his long reign to the consoli- 
dation of the internal power of what he already 
possessed. His successor, Constantine IV., 1 was 
slain in a battle with an opposing party of his 
own subjects before the end of his second year. 
Kenneth III. met the same fate after a reign 
of six years, but meanwhile had maintained the 

1 Skene, 374-3S0. 



CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. I 1 5 

boundaries of his kingdom as it came into his 
hands, and transmitted it unimpaired to his suc- 
cessor, Malcolm II. And Malcolm, by his great 
victory of Carham over the Northumbrians in 
1018, carried the boundaries of his kingdom 
from the Forth to the Tweed ; and, with the 
previous extension of Cumbria southward, his 
grandson Duncan, king of Cumbria, from the 
same date reigned on the west as far south as 
the Derwent and over more than half of West- 
moreland. 1 

The royal line of Strathclyde — which must 
now be called Cumbria — had hitherto pro- 
ceeded from an ancient family claiming Ro- 
man descent. In 908 that dynasty came to 
an end, and Donald, brother of Constantine 
II. of Alban, was elected king. 2 In the third 
generation a grandson of the Scottish king 
succeeded as heir to the same throne, 3 and 
on the death of his grandfather inherited that 
of the Scots. Thus in 1034 the kingdoms were 
united under the Scottish dynasty. 

In those days of spiritual inactivity the polit- 
ical and social standing of the Scottish Church 
was high. Churchmen were on an equality with 
the noblest of the land. An abbot of Dunkeld 
marries the daughter of a king, and their son 
takes his place in the royal succession ; and the 
abbacy of a Columbite monastery, or even a 

1 Skene, i. 394, 398, 399. 2 Ibid., 346. 3 Ibid., 392. 



Il6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

place among the brotherhood, is held to be not 
unworthy the dignity of a retired monarch. 

Iona continued her ecclesiastical existence — 
still the link between the Irish and the Scottish 
Church — but under deep depression, and only 
as aided by other institutions of the connection. 
Sometimes an Irish abbot, as of Raphoe or of 
Armagh, would be constituted also abbot of 
Iona as chief of the Columbite fraternity. But 
for a long time it is doubtful whether any of 
them made his abode on the island. 1 Later 
in the century it appears that there was a resi- 
dent abbot at the same time with the chief in 
Ireland. In 986 the Danes put to death the 
successor of Columba at Dublin, and in an ex- 
pedition to the Hebrides slew the abbot of Iona 
with fifteen of his clergy. 2 Norwegians and 
Danes had now obtained complete command 
of the sea between Ireland and North Britain, 
and the formerly intimate relations between the 
churches of the two countries ceased. With 
the rise of Dunkeld and Abernethy and St. 
Andrews on one side, and the obstruction of 
communication with Ireland on the other, Iona 
was shorn of her power, but even under the 
heaviest adversity had not ceased to be the 
most venerated shrine in the land of the Scots. 

There was now a Scotland, comprehending 
the greater part of North Britain. It had 

1 M'Lauchlan, 310-312. 2 Skene, ii. 333. 



CONSTRUCTING THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. WJ 

grown from the little Scottish kingdom of 
Argyll, by union with the best of Pictland, 
then by victory securing the land of the Sax- 
ons on the lower Tweed, and by dynastic rela- 
tionship annexing the whole of Cumbria. Still, 
much was lacking of completeness. Galloway 
stood out as a separate state, and Caithness 
and Sutherland and a large tract of the western 
coast and all the islands were in the hands of 
the Northmen. 

The northern invaders were still for the most 
part heathen, but in the land from which they 
came the work of the Gallic missionary Anschar 
was making progress — greater than it had made 
during his lifetime — although slow in reaching 
Norway; and those who had secured settle- 
ments on the islands and coasts of Scotland 
were gradually brought into conformity with 
the Christianity prevailing around them. In 
course of time a change took place whereby 
the Northmen settled in the islands began to 
claim an interest in the ecclesiastical institutions 
which their forefathers had plundered. This 
took place chiefly in the Shetland and Orkney 
islands after the eleventh century; but already, 
in the tenth, one of the Danish kings of Dublin 
went on a pilgrimage to Iona, where he died 
"after penance and a good life." 1 

Later immigration from Scandinavia came 

1 Skene, ii. yy 3 . 



Il8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

with profession of Christianity after the style 
carried there by Romish priests ; and while 
Malcolm II. was still upon the Scottish throne 
Canute, a Christian Dane, was reigning in 
England. 

As respects religion, the component parts 
of the new kingdom of Scotland were, in the 
main, of one mind. Christian doctrine, as be- 
lieved by the Scots, had been accepted by 
the Picts, and coincided with that of the Cum- 
brian Britons. Some practices and elements 
of government had been copied from England 
by Pictish kings and enforced upon their cler- 
gy. But the early princes of the united king- 
dom sought to restore agreement. In the reign 
of Constantine II. the Church of the Picts was 
united on an equal footing with that of the 
Scots, only one new element being added — 
namely, that of a bishop over the whole. 
That bishop seems to have represented not 
an ecclesiastical demand, but a royal idea. It 
was the monarchical principle appended to the 
Church rather than filling any place created by 
its wants. For the monastic system of the 
Scottish Church continued to be the system 
of the united Church. The bishop's place could 
therefore be only a higher honor than any 
other clergyman in the kingdom had a legal 
ri^ht to claim. 




Rngrtiivd R-'prinicd fur the Pre-xbi/lerian Board of -Pubtiraluu, bii Tkco.XemiJiardl &■ Son . PUlada 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MACBETH. 

THE long-protracted warfare of Scots and Sax- 
ons for sole dominion between the Forth and 
Tweed was decided by the campaign of Malcolm 
II. and the battle of Carham in favor of the Scots. 
Cumbria, dynastically connected with Scotland, 
was already a sub-kingdom of that growing pow- 
er. Her king, a kinsman of Malcolm, was with 
him in the battle, and was there slain or died 
soon after. His successor, Duncan, grandson 
of Malcolm, sixteen years later (1034) inherit- 
ed also the crown of Scotland. 

In this newly-constituted union of kingdoms 
Cumbria, though oldest in profession of Chris- 
tianity, and when the rest were heathen dis- 
tinguished among Christians for simplicity of 
ordinances and government, had fallen under 
great depression. Diminished in strength by 
the removal of multitudes of her people into 
Wales, she tacitly submitted to a dominion 
which was creeping step by step over all. 

Duncan's right to the throne of Scotland was 
through his mother, a daughter of Malcolm II., 
for that king had no male heirs ; but Malcolm 

119 



120 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

had secured it for himself by the issue of war, 
in which he had defeated and slain his prede- 
cessor, Kenneth IV. ; and now there was still 
a claimant from that side, who stood as nearly 
related to Kenneth as Duncan stood to Mal- 
colm. The son of Kenneth was dead, but a 
daughter of that son was living, who had been 
married to the mormaer of Moray, and after his 
death carried her claims, with the guardianship 
of her son, to her second husband, Macbeth, 
son of a former mormaer of Moray. If Dun- 
can was the son of a daughter of the late king, 
Gruach, wife of Macbeth, was the daughter 
of a son of the preceding king. As respects 
nearness of relationship they were on precisely 
the same footing. And if a woman might not 
in those days wear the crown herself, she might 
presume to transmit the right to her husband 
as truly as to her son. Such most probably 
was Gruach's view of the case. Nor could she 
fail to regard Malcolm II. as an usurper, and 
the occasion at least of her grandfather's death. 
He certainly had grasped for himself «all the 
profit to be secured from it. Lady Macbeth, 
as Shakespeare calls her, viewed herself as the 
heir of a royal inheritance of which her family 
had been unjustly and by violence deprived. 
Her descent, moreover, was from the older 
branch of the royal family of Alpin. But 
Duncan's father, Crinan, abbot of Dunkeld, 



MACBETH. 121 

also represented the mormaership in the an- 
cient house of Athole, whose weight proved the 
greater in a threefold rivalry. For, to com- 
plete the story, another piece of genealogy is 
needed : Finlay, the father of Macbeth, had 
been, some thirty years before, mormaer of 
Moray. He was defeated in battle by Sigurd, 
the Norwegian jarl of Caithness and Suther- 
land. King Malcolm II. was pleased with the 
event, and gave one of his daughters to Sigurd 
in marriage. After Sigurd's death his son 
Thorfinn was confirmed by Malcolm in pos- 
session of the two northern counties. Thor- 
finn, when his cousin Duncan came to the 
throne, did not feel disposed to submit his in- 
dependent territory as a province of the Scot- 
tish kingdom, and no doubt thought that as a 
grandson of the late king and the son of a 
distinguished soldier he had as good a right 
to the sovereignty as the son of the abbot. 
For one cause or the other, or both, he refused 
the submission or tribute which his cousin de- 
manded. Duncan assumed to depose him, and 
appointed Moddan in his place, sending an 
army to enforce the substitution. The army 
was worsted, and Moddan betook himself to 
Duncan. A new expedition was organized, 
which issued in disaster and the death of 
Moddan. 

In these circumstances Thorfinn moved a 



122 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

force across the boundary of his own domains. 
Duncan hastened in person to encounter the 
insurrection. But again his forces were de- 
feated, and the rival kinsman pressed on his 
victorious march to the south. 

At this juncture Macbeth, who was probably 
commander of the royal army then, conceived 
the project of securing his own claim. The 
son of Sigurd was his hereditary enemy, but 
if the king were out of the way might agree 
with him in dividing the whole territory of 
North Britain — Scottish and Scandinavian both 
— between them. Duncan was murdered some- 
where in the neighborhood of Elgin on the 14th 
of August, 1040. Soon afterward the division 
of the country took place, the north being as- 
signed to the Norwegian earl, and the centre 
to the mormaer of Moray with the honors of 
king of Scotland. 

The abbot of Dunkeld did not quietly sub- 
mit to the fate of his son. Five years later he 
fell in a battle fought apparently for the res- 
toration of his house. 1 

But the murdered king was destined to 
transmit the contested inheritance. Duncan 
had married a sister of Siward, the Danish 
earl of Northumberland, and with that uncle 
his family found protection after his death. 
His children were then young, but at the end 

1 Skene, i. 404, 405, 407. 



MACBETH. 123 

of fourteen years Malcolm, the oldest, was car- 
ried into Scotland by Siward at the head of a 
great army of Saxons. The issue of war put 
him on the throne of Cumbria and Lothian. 
Macbeth retired northward, and sustained him- 
self two years longer, no doubt by aid of Thor- 
finn. In 1057, Thorfinn died. Malcolm renew- 
ed the war with native forces, and pursued Mac- 
beth into the Highlands, where he defeated and 
slew him on the 15th of August, 1057. 

Macbeth. reigned seventeen years, and is not, 
by the old records, charged with injustice in ad- 
ministration of the government. The country 
is said to have enjoyed prosperity under his 
rule. To the Church he was eminently liberal, 
conferring extensive lands upon " the Culdees 
of Lochleven, from motives of piety and for 
the benefit of their prayers." 1 He was the first 
of Scottish monarchs to offer directly his ser- 
vices to the bishop of Rome. There is some 
reason to believe that both he and Thorfinn 
visited Rome, and obtained absolution from 
their sins ; and there is no doubt that Macbeth 
expended money liberally among the Roman 
poor. Nor are these facts incredible of the 
murderer of Duncan. In neither earlier nor 
later times has the Church been ignorant of 
conscience-money. 

1 Skene, i. 406. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MALCOLM CANMORE. 

MALCOLM III.— called Canmore, or Great 
Head — son of the murdered Duncan, suc- 
ceeded Macbeth as king of Scotland. Early 
in his reign, which began in 1057, he married 
the widow of the recently deceased Thorfinn, 
earl of Sutherland and Caithness. The defeat 
of Macbeth, and seven months afterward of his 
stepson Lulach, had reduced the protracted re- 
sistance of Moray, and thus the northern part 
of the mainland was formally connected with 
the Crown. 

Malcolm III. stands in a clearer historical 
light than any of his predecessors. Changes 
took place in his time which went to put the 
kingdom into nearer relations with the general 
current of European history. The Norman 
Conquest of England in 1066 was of hardly 
less importance to the government and peo- 
ple of Scotland than to those of England, and 
of more importance to the Scottish Church. It 
imposed the feudal system upon England, and 
gave occasion to its partial adoption in Scot- 
land, where it afterward divided the kingdom 

124 



MALCOLM CANMORE. 1 25 

with the old national patriarchy. A great 
chano-e was also made in the material of 

o 

population in both countries. A Norman ele- 
ment was added to that of England, and a large 
Saxon, and eventually a Norman one also, to 
that of the south of Scotland. In the former 
country it was an addition of conquerors, who 
were constituted the nobility and rulers; in the 
latter, an addition of refugees, most of whom 
came as commoners and servants. 

From the severities inflicted by the Conquer- 
or multitudes of English people, some of high 
birth, fled to the northern kingdom. Among 
those fugitives came the Saxon heir of England, 
Edgar the y'Etheling — that is, the crown prince 
— with his mother and two sisters. They were 
kindly received by King Malcolm, who also 
aided Edgar in attempts to retrieve some part 
of his fortunes. But a campaign made into 
Northumberland, and carried as far as York, re- 
sulted in only adding to the number of refugees, 
vast multitudes of whom followed the returning 
army. They were distributed throughout the 
south of Scotland. Rare was the family in 
which English slaves were not to be found, 
many of them sold by themselves to secure 
the means of subsistence. 

Malcolm's first wife died young. He subse- 
quently married Margaret, sister of the fugitive 
Saxon prince. Her brother he also protected 



126 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

and provided for bountifully, more so than the 
weakling deserved. He never succeeded in 
pushing his raids into England farther than 
York, nor in lessening the power of the Con- 
queror, but he limited the northward advance of 
conquest. The territory embraced by Northum- 
berland, Durham, Cumberland and Westmore- 
land by his aid successfully resisted the establish- 
ment of Norman rule. Malcolm did not secure 
the annexation of it to his own kingdom, but 
during the time of William I. he prevented the 
Normans from adding it to theirs. It was 
ravaged by invasions from both sides. Pro- 
voked by that resistance, William in 1072 
broke through the debatable land and brought 
the Scottish king to terms of peace, and forced 
him to give his son Duncan a hostage for their 
observance. 1 Edgar also, at Malcolm's advice, 
made his peace with William, who entertained 
him at his court and gave him lands in Nor- 
mandy. 

Thus was the conflict settled for the time. 
But in 1 09 1, William the Conqueror died, and 
his successor, William Rufus, expelled Edgar 
from his estates. The /Etheling had recourse 
to his royal brother-in-law, 2 who once more led 
an army into England to assert his cause. 

In the course of successive campaigns Mal- 
colm again ravaged Northumberland; William 

1 Skene, i. 424. 2 Ibid., 428. 



MALCOLM CANMORE. 12? 

seized the lands south of the Solway belonging 
to the king of Scotland as part of the ancient 
British kingdom of Strathclyde, and at a con- 
ference of the two kings at Gloucester treated 
the Scottish king with indignity. Resenting 
the insult, Malcolm withdrew, and brought 
another army into Northumberland. The 
campaign ended in his death and that of 
his son Edward, it is said by the treachery 
of Morel of Bamborough, who, under pre- 
tence of surrender, lured him into his power, 
Nov. 13, 1093. Queen Margaret died upon 
receiving the tidings. 

The reign of Malcolm Canmore is one of 
the most important epochs in Scottish history, 
covering thirty-five years, within which the 
kingdom was extended from the lower Tweed 
and the Cheviot mountains and the Solway 
on the south to Caithness on the north, and 
over all the Hebrides. 1 And that change in 
the Church was commenced which eventuated 
in its displacement before the Romish. In the 
latter movement the principal actor was Queen 
Margaret, a woman of high intellectual endow- 
ments and earnest piety, with a degree of eccle- 
siastical learning uncommon among her sex in 
that day. Her thinking, moulded by the Rom- 
ish Church, enabled her to defend it before the 
majority of men who admitted its traditional 

1 Skene, i. 43 I ~433- 



128 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

interpretation of Scripture. It had been her 
wish to enter a nunnery and spend her whole 
life in devotion ; and hardly was she persuaded 
to forego that purpose by the offer of a throne, 
and, of what must have weighed more in the 
estimation of such a woman, the love of a 
brave, true-hearted and generous man. Be- 
coming queen of Scotland, she took under her 
special care the interests of religion. The 
Saxon princess, from the nature of her edu- 
cation, could not fail to condemn many things 
in the Scottish Church, however they might 
have been estimated on their own merits. 

Christianity was still taught in Scotland, 
north of the Clyde and Forth, by the Church 
of which Columba had planted the seeds in 
Iona, for the Culdees in Pictland had substan- 
tially maintained the succession. But it had 
not escaped the hands of the innovator, the 
ravages of war, nor the effects of natural de- 
cay which will befall any Church unquickened 
by revivals of spirituality. Changes adopted 
from the Saxons had only marred the devel- 
opment of its native constitution. As far as 
they pertained to organization, they were in- 
congruous elements in the clan system, embar- 
rassing it without securing any proper province 
for themselves. Territorial distribution of dio- 
ceses and parishes was quite foreign to it. Its 
priesthood had always been collegiate. Epis- 



MALCOLM CANMORE. 1 29 

copacy had no virtual place in it, and could 
never be more than functional. In course of 
time it dwindled into a mere representative 
bishop for the kingdom, and that, being really 
unnecessary, was finally abandoned. The bish- 
op of St. Andrews, who died in 1093, was the 
last of that line. The attempt to engraft Ro- 
manism upon the Columban Church had proved 
an utter failure. 

Frequent internal wars and the devastation 
of a great part of the country by heathen in- 
vaders had destroyed many of the properties 
of the Church and crippled others, breaking 
down or displacing the clans to which they 
pertained. In many cases " the lands with 
the ruined buildings fell into the hands of lay- 
men, and became hereditary in their families, 
until at last nothing was left but the mere name 
of abbacy applied to the lands, and of abbot 
borne by the secular lord for the time." 1 

From such causes the Scottish Church of 
the eleventh century was greatly reduced in 
efficiency, and from some parts of the country 
removed entirely. The Culdees were the cler- 
gy, a society of secular priests, who, occupying 
the churches and their properties not otherwise 
appropriated, discharged all public religious du- 
ties, maintaining divine service and providing 
spiritual advisers for the people. Dr. Reeves 

1 Skene, ii. 365. 



130 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

says of the Kelede of Armagh that they contin- 
ued to be the officiating clergy of the churches 
there, "and by degrees grouped themselves 
around the great church, where they became 
the standing ministers of the cathedral. They 
were presided over by a prior, and numbered 
about twelve individuals." 1 Of the same na- 
ture was their place in the Scottish churches. 
And well was it with those which enjoyed the 
ministrations of Culdees. Where the Colum- 
ban clergy had been expelled in war, and their 
places usurped by laymen, ministration of the 
gospel must have ceased. 

On some points of doctrine, on the manner 
of administering the Eucharist and observing 
the Lenten fast, in the ranks of the ministry 
on the source of ecclesiastical authority and 
the monastic orders, the Scottish Church still 
differed from that of Rome. Scripture was 
held to be the sole authority in faith ; the Cath- 
olic claimed an hereditary authority of her own 
— traditional in a line of apostolic bishops. The 
time of observing Easter had, from the eighth 
century, been conformed to the Roman ; but the 
Roman mass had not been introduced, and the 
Scottish Lent was a continuous fast. In their 
ministry and their government the churches 
differed still more widely. 

1 Dr. Reeves On the Ancient Churches of Armagh, p. 21 ; Skene, ii. 
359- 



MALCOLM CANMORE. I3I 

The Scottish Church in its constitution stood 
entirely apart from the State. Its ministers 
were supported by the free gifts of the wor- 
shipers and by their own industry. Nor did 
they claim to derive their sanction from any 
earthly sovereign, ecclesiastical or civil. The 
king might be their friend or protector or ben- 
efactor ; he was not their head. The bishop 
of Rome was allowed to be the greatest among 
bishops, but Scotland was no province of his, 
and from some of his practices they dissented. 
The intermeddling of Saxon monks and Pict- 
ish kings had produced great confusion, but 
had not substantially altered the organization. 
In the eleventh century the Scottish Church 
still retained its distinctive features as inher- 
ited from the missionary society of Iona. The 
Culdees had taken the place of the Columban 
clergy, or the Columban clergy had gradually 
merged into Culdee societies. Their occupa- 
tions among themselves were still chiefly de- 
votion and study of the Bible and other mat- 
ters pertaining to ministerial duties, in accord- 
ance with which the " practice of clerical wor- 
ship" seems to have been "deemed their 
special function." 1 From their common res- 
idence they attended to the instruction and 
other spiritual wants of the community in 
which they were planted. 

1 Reeves, Ancient Churches of Armagh, p. 21. 



132 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Their societies were not monastic in any 
sense accepted as true at that date. The 
brethren were not bound by vows of celibacy ; 
they might hold property, and their institution 
had no relation to the papacy by sanction or 
otherwise. It would better serve the purpose 
of clearness, and avoid the risk of confound- 
ing two classes of things quite different, to 
call them colleges (collegia), for, whatever else 
they were, ecclesiastical colleges they certainly 
were, and nothing else were they so much. 
The Scottish Church was founded upon instruc- 
tion. Theological colleges were its only seats 
of power. Bishops as well as presbyters were 
recognized, but presbyters alone were the work- 
ing clergy. And yet it was not a Presbyterian 
Church. It had no parochial distribution of 
clergy and congregations, nor organic class- 
ification of them into presbyteries. The clan 
system, though greatly disorganized, was still 
the type of government. Not strong at best, 
as compared with the Catholic, rather like the 
ganglionic system of nerves in the human frame 
as distinguished from the spinal, it was ill suit- 
ed to present an effective resistance to a com- 
pacted force like that which was soon to be 
arrayed against it. 

That ancient Church, we must not forget, 
had come from Ireland, and the Irish Church 
was the first of a mission from the old British 



MALCOLM CANMORE. 133 

Church, which at one time extended from the 
Clyde southward all the way through the Ro- 
man provinces, and still in the eleventh century 
held its ground in Cumbria and down the west 
of South Britain through Westmoreland, Lan- 
cashire, Wales and Cornwall. All these affil- 
iated churches were still free, retaining their 
earlier doctrines and their ecclesiastical inde- 
pendence. Though not in all respects identi- 
cal, they were of one common type and entire- 
ly harmonious in their relations with each other. 
The Saxons, who then possessed the east and 
centre of England, having been converted by 
missionaries sent from Pope Gregory I., were 
entirely Roman Catholic, and their religion, to- 
gether with their settlements, prevailed also in 
the district immediately to the north of the 
Tweed. 

Such were the ecclesiastical relations of the 
British Isles when the Celtic king of Scotland 
married a Saxon princess. 



BOOK SECOND. 



PERIOD OF PAPAL RULE. 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMANISM. 



CHAPTER I. 

ST. MARGARET THE QUEEN. 

THE religious condition of her husband's 
kingdom became to Queen Margaret a 
matter of great concern. In her eyes the doc- 
trines taught and the practices observed were 
heretical. It was her wish to abolish them and 
in their place to establish those of Rome. The 
king complied. At her instance councils of 
the Scottish clergy were called, in one at least 
of which she appeared in person and main- 
tained her positions in an oral address. " Her 
biographer tells us that ' at the principal coun- 
cil thus held she, with a few of her own eccle- 
siastics, contended for three days with the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 
against the supporters of those strange cus- 
toms ; while her husband, who was equally well 
acquainted with the Anglic language and with 
his native Gaelic, acted as interpreter.' " 1 
In the annual commemoration of the Lord's 

1 Skene, ii. 346, from Turgot. 

137 



13^ THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

passion the various parts had been gradually 
shaped in a long course of time. The process 
of growth was not the same in all churches. 
Differences existed touching the order of the 
Easter observances, the date for beginning 
them and the length of the preceding fast, 
which varied greatly from time to time, until 
finally fixed to the sacred number of forty 
days. During the latter centuries of that pro- 
longed growth and controversy the Scottish 
Church, cut off from communication with those 
on the Continent, adhered to the style of ob- 
servance which prevailed in the British churches 
before the Romans withdrew. And the British 
churches then were still marked by features of 
the third century. Within the long interval 
until the eleventh century the Roman Church 
had settled many questions and adopted many 
practices unknown, or imperfectly known, or 
disapproved of, by the theologians of the far 
West. Among other things, the controversy 
of Easter had been determined by adoption of 
the Romish rule. And in the main the Scot- 
tish Church had conformed, but not perfectly. 
Now, so long had that rule been observed as 
to give the general impression among Roman 
Catholics that it had existed from the beginning. 
The multitude had lost the memory of contro- 
versy on the subject. Fully under that convic- 
tion, the pious queen set to work to bring the 



ST. MARGARET THE QUEEN. 1 39 

Scottish Church into line with the Roman Cath- 
olic as a matter indispensable to salvation. 

For the fast of precisely forty days she ar- 
gued Christ's example and the practice of the 
Catholic Church. The Scottish clergy did not 
reject either, but said that they complied cor- 
rectly with Scripture. But the queen found 
fault that they counted in the Sundays, and the 
Catholic Church never fasted on Sunday. If 
the Scots would subtract the six Sundays, as 
they ought, they would find that the Lenten 
term did not amount to forty days. So the 
queen was right by Roman Catholic rule. But 
if the Lord's forty days' fast were the law, the 
Scots were right, for his was a continuous fast, 
without excepting Sabbaths. 

Against their refraining from communion 
upon the specially solemn occasion of Easter 
Day, lest they should eat and drink judgment 
to themselves, the queen reasoned scripturally, 
but assumed also the erroneous ground that 
the communicant was prepared, having been 
washed from the stains of his sins by the 
preceding long fast and its duties. 

A third point was the mass, which the Scots 
were charged with celebrating in a barbarous 
manner. No description is given of what is 
thus called " barbarous." But nothing unscrip- 
tural is necessarily understood in it. For the 
same term is applied by Roman Catholics of 



140 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the present day to the manner of observing the 
Lord's Supper in all Protestant churches. The 
Latin word barbarus classically signifies only 
that a thing is neither Greek nor Latin. The 
sacrament was ordered to be celebrated after 
the Romish rite, with acceptance of the ele- 
ments as changed into the real body and 
blood of the Lord. 

It seems to have been customary in the Cel- 
tic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as 
Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, 
as a day of rest from labor, and Sunday, com- 
memorative of the Lord's resurrection, as one 
of rejoicing, with exercises of public worship. 
In that case they obeyed the fourth command- 
ment literally upon the seventh day of the week 
— the day on which the Lord lay in the grave — 
and did not understand the precept about rest- 
ing from labor to apply to the day of rejoicing 
over his resurrection. On the latter, people did 
not feel under obligation to refrain from any of 
their ordinary occupations consistent with their 
attending upon public worship. The queen in- 
sisted upon the single and strict observance of 
the Lord's Day. People and clergy alike sub- 
mitted, but without entirely giving up their rev- 
erence for Saturday, which subsequently sank 
into a half-holy day preparatory for Sunday. 

A practice which to some extent prevailed 
without rebuke of the Church, supporting itself 



ST. MARGARET THE QUEEN. 141 

upon Hebrew example, whereby it was not un- 
usual for a man to marry a deceased brother's 
widow or a widowed stepmother, was also, at 
the instance of the queen, censured and for- 
bidden. 

Among the changes introduced by the pious 
queen, it is remarkable that priestly celibacy was 
not included, nor the rule of poverty enforced 
upon the inmates of the Church colleges. That 
they were not has been conjecturally imputed 
to the priestly descent of her husband or the 
ecclesiastical position of her son, still a minor. 
It may have been so. But from what is told of 
Margaret's character it is not probable that her 
censure would have been withheld from the 
breach of a solemn vow. More likely, she 
knew that those vows were not concerned in 
the case, and that the government was not yet 
prepared for such a revolution as the attempt 
to institute them would create. 

Her husband sustained the queen on those 
points, and added the weight of his royal sanc- 
tion to the consent obtained from the councils. 
How far the acquiescence of the clergy became 
practical, and how far the changes were accept- 
ed into the real faith of the people, we cannot 
say. But it is worth remarking that the Saxon 
party of the court was intensely hated by the 
Celtic population, as appeared immediately upon 
Malcolm's death in the wars to exclude Mar- 



142 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

garet's sons from the throne ; that the Saxon 
queen, with all her excellence, was not popular 
among the Scots ; that in the high places of the 
subsequently-introduced hierarchy Scottish ec- 
clesiastics had little share ; and that long after- 
ward, when the Scottish people once more took 
the regulation of their Church into their own 
hands, they rejected all the changes made by 
Margaret and her sons, except those touching 
marriage and the Lord's Day. 

When her proposed reforms were accepted 
many Scottish institutions experienced great 
favor at the hands of the queen. Several 
ecclesiastical buildings, by her influence with 
the king, were erected or repaired. Iona, 
after the Hebrides had been restored to 
Scotland, enjoyed her patronage. Some of 
the houses, repeatedly subjected to plunder 
and latterly suffering from neglect, were re- 
stored and provided for. The king and 
queen, and the bishop of St. Andrews in the 
same spirit, also enlarged the endowments of 
" the hermit Keledei on the island of Lochleven, 
living there in the school of all virtues devout- 
ly and honorably." Solitary anchorets were ob- 
jects of her highest veneration. And as they 
would accept no donation at her hands, she hon- 
ored them by complying with their religious 
wishes and admonitions. Crucifixes and other 
objects used in Romish worship were introduced 



ST. MARGARET THE QUEEN. 1 43 

into the churches by her example, and in some 
cases, as in those of Dunfermline and St. An- 
drews, by her donation. 1 Every encouragement 
was given to the practice of pilgrimage to holy 
shrines. Houses were erected and servants 
paid to wait in them for the accommodation of 
pilgrims to St. Andrews. 

Queen Margaret was the first among the 
sovereigns of Scotland to interfere with spir- 
itual matters in dictating faith and forms of 
worship. Rome, in whose interest her work 
was done, recognized the service and rewarded 
it with the honors of canonization. A learned 
ecclesiastic of that connection composed a glow- 
ing biographical eulogy of the royal saint, in 
which her good works are made to appear, as 
Alban Butler says, "more wonderful than her 
miracles," with which she was also adorned. 
She died upon receiving the tidings of her 
husband's death, and was buried at Dunferm- 
line, where the king's body, when brought home, 
was also laid. 

1 Skene, ii. 345"3S3- 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SONS OF ST. MARGARET. 

THE long and prosperous reign of Malcolm 
Canmore closed in gloom. In the same 
year the Western Isles were again ceded to 
Norway. The Scots, who had long beheld with 
jealousy the increasing influence of Saxons at 
the court of their king, and the enforcing of 
Saxon opinions upon themselves, with good 
reason apprehending the risk of losing all 
authority in their native land, immediately 
upon the death of Queen Margaret rose in 
arms to set Donald Bane, the brother of Mal- 
colm, on the throne, as being one of their own 
race, in opposition to any of the sons of the 
Saxon queen. The rising was successful. 
The Saxons were expelled, and Donald Bane 
set up as king, and with such haste that the 
deceased queen was carried from Edinburgh 
Castle to her burial through armed bands by 
stealth, under cover of early dawn and of a 
dense morning mist. 

Donald reigned six months, when Duncan, the 
oldest son of Malcolm by his first wife, asserted 

144 



THE SONS OF ST. MARGARET. 1 45 

his claim, which was regarded with more favor 
by the people of Lothian and Cumbria. Dun- 
can had been a hostage at the English court 
from his childhood, but now, with permission of 
King William II., and professing the fealty de- 
manded, he marched to the north at the head 
of a force collected among Saxons and Nor- 
mans, dethroned his uncle and took his place. 

But English dependency in any degree was 
revolting to the Scots. At the end of six 
months their leaders banded together against 
Duncan and slew him, and again set up his 
uncle. A compromise was made with a view 
to unite the two parties, whereby Donald ac- 
cepted as his colleague Edmund, one of the 
sons of Queen Margaret, who had taken part 
in the plot against Duncan. Alban or Scotia — 
that is, Scotland proper — at that time was the 
country between the Forth and Spey. Lothian, 
with its Saxon population, and Cumbria, the old 
kingdom of Strathclyde, were recently-annexed 
dependencies. In Lothian the dominion of a 
son of their much-admired queen was gladly 
accepted, while Donald was the choice of his 
Celtic countrymen. 

To neither party perhaps was that divided 
rule entirely satisfactory. After about three 
years Edgar ./Etheling, with an English force, 
carried his nephew Edgar, another son of Mal- 
colm and Margaret, into Scotland. In a hard- 
10 



I46 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

fought battle he defeated Donald, took Edmund 
prisoner, and, having made Edgar king, return- 
ed to England. Edmund was doomed to per- 
petual imprisonment, and Donald, after two 
years, falling into Edgar's hands, was blinded 
and consigned to the same fate. 

The kingdom of Malcolm Canmore was again 
united as to the mainland. Norway held do- 
minion in the isles. 

Edgar's reign extended from 1097 to 1107. 
It was uninterrupted by wars or party broils. 
When Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway, ap- 
peared a second time in the western seas, Ed- 
gar renewed to him the cession of the islands 
which his father had made. In his third year 
(1100) his sister Matilda was married to Henry 
L, king of England — an event of more import- 
ance to both countries than many expensive 
and bloody wars. By the Saxon population 
Matilda was regarded as one of themselves, 
a daughter of their own royal line. Her edu- 
cation had been almost entirely English. Her 
marriage went far to reconcile them to their 
new masters. Once more their race had an 
interest on the throne ; the daughter of their 
princess Margaret was now queen of* England. 
The Norman king strengthened his own hand 
by a step which went to unite the conquered 
with the conquerors, and to create some check 
thereby upon his arrogant Norman barons ; 



THE SONS OF ST. MARGARET. I47 

and, added to other causes, it contributed, for 
one generation at least, to more friendly rela- 
tions with Scotland. Through Matilda, by the 
marriage of her daughter with Geoffrey of 
Anjou, the powerful dynasty of the Plantage- 
nets obtained their right to the English crown. 

Upon Edgar's death his brother Alexander 
succeeded him, while David, a younger brother, 
was constituted, by Edgar's request, ruler of 
Cumbria, with the title of earl. 1 In the begin- 
ning of Alexander's reign another uprising of 
the Celtic party took place. But their army 
was pursued into the north, and finally defeat- 
ed and dispersed beyond the Spey. 2 When 
Alexander died in 1124, David became king 
of both the north and south of Scotland, retain- 
ing the earldom of Northampton, which he had 
received with his wife, and other estates in 
England. 3 Within the period covered by these 
three reigns, from 1097 to JI 53> tne religious 
revolution begun by Queen Margaret was 
completed, and the kingdom subjected to a 
feudal government. 4 

David, while a youth, had followed his sister 
Matilda into England, upon her marriage with 
King Henry. Her deep religious feeling seems 
to have had much to do in the formation of his 
character. During many years' residence at 

1 Skene, i. 446. 2 Ibid., 452. 

* Ibid., 444-458= 4 Ibid., 433-457- 



14? THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the English court he was trained, " with the 
young Norman barons, in all the feudal usages, 
so as to become, by education and association 
with the young English nobility, imbued with 
feudal ideas and surrounded by Norman influ- 
ences." 

To the Celtic race that was far from agree- 
able. But another element of population had 
begun to enter Scotland, which, without the re- 
ligious devotion of the Saxon, proved of more 
regulative effect in the government. The Nor- 
man friends of his youth were not forgotten by 
David when he came to power in his native 
land. Many of them were introduced to places 
of rank and emolument in his earldom and 
afterward in his kingdom. By marriage and 
otherwise he was himself a wealthy English 
nobleman. Through these means many Nor- 
man families were added to the higher ranks in 
Scotland, bringing with them their ideas of feu- 
dal distinctions, rights and privileges. Thus 
did the Somervilles, Lindsays, Bruces, Corhyns, 
Avenels, Baliols and others receive their ear- 
liest settlements in the northern kingdom. It 
was as friends or guests of the king that they 
came. In some quarters they were endowed 
with large estates, as Robert Avenel in Esk- 
dale and Robert Bruce in Annandale, and oth- 
ers elsewhere. 

When David had been six years on the 



THE SONS OF ST. MARGARET. 1 49 

throne an attempt to repel the foreign intru- 
sion was made from the north, headed by An- 
gus, a descendant of Lady Macbeth, as repre- 
sentative of the ancient mormaers of Moray, 
together with Malcolm, a natural son of the 
late king Alexander. In the reduction of that 
rebellion the whole territory of Moray was 
taken into possession of the king. But the 
discontent was not allayed, nor did it cease to 
break forth in successive insurrections for a 
hundred years. 



CHAPTER III. 

INTRODUCTION OF THE ROMISH CHURCH GOVERN- 
MENT. 

QUEEN MARGARET'S changes in ihe 
Scottish Church pertained to doctrine 
and observances ; all the rest of the revolu- 
tion was the work of her sons, Edgar, Alex- 
ander and David. 

In the year 1093 the sole bishop of Scotia 
died. The kingdom was left without a bishop 
fourteen years, until the death of King Edgar 
— a defect in the eye of the monarchy, but not 
intrinsically in the national church system. It 
was not the intention of the monarchy now to 
continue that system. 

In the Scottish Church all right to demand 
the attention and compliance of men was, from 
the first, treasured in the Holy Scriptures, in 
the duties of making their teaching known to 
the people, and in keeping their ordinances be- 
fore the public mind. That Church was now, 
without discussion and by royal will alone, to 
be set aside for one which claimed a right to 
command obedience and belief by virtue of 
divine authority resident in her priesthood. 

150 



THE ROMISH CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I 5 I 

Establishment of the Catholic system was 
commenced by Alexander, and, as far as re- 
spects the mainland, carried forward almost to 
completeness by his brother and successor, Da- 
vid. The method generally pursued was that 
of reviving old bishoprics, British, Scottish, Pict- 
ish, not upon the old clan method, nor upon any 
compromise with it, nor as having any relation 
to it, but upon the simple parochial and dio- 
cesan plan. All the territory of the kingdom 
was to be divided into dioceses, and those sub- 
divided into parishes. Each diocese was to 
have one bishop — no longer a mere function- 
ary, but an actual ruler — and every parish its 
own priest. The tithes from the parishes 
were to sustain all. 

Various predispositions of the old Church, 
into the details of which we cannot enter, facil- 
itated these new divisions. Old Scottish ab- 
bacies could be changed into bishoprics by 
substituting a bishop for the abbot. Other 
members of the fraternity, where willing or 
desirable, could form the chapter of the dio- 
cese, or they could minister in parishes sepa- 
rately, as they had done hitherto collectively, for 
the clan or for a group of neighboring churches. 
Where such a transformation was not accept- 
able the old ministry was entirely superseded. 

Consultation with the existing clergy was 
no part of the plan. No synod was called, 



152 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

although it was an age in which synods were 
common. The ecclesiastical transfer of a whole 
nation was not trusted to ecclesiastical author- 
ity, but conducted by the civil arm alone. 

The three Celtic kingdoms were now united 
in one, together with a Saxon district. With 
the last there was no difficulty in the way of 
Romanism. Of the Celtic kingdoms, one was 
that of Strathclyde, now called Cumbria; an- 
other was that of the Picts ; and the third, that 
of the Scots, latterly the ruling race. Each 
of these had at some time acknowledged one 
bishop. But the see of Cumbria at Glasgow 
and that of Abernethy had long ago been dis- 
continued. The latter, when the Scots became 
masters in the north, had to part with its hon- 
ors to Dunkeld, and Dunkeld, in the further 
progress of the same people, had to yield to 
St. Andrews. The Scottish bishopric at St. 
Andrews had been vacant since the death of 
Malcolm Canmore. At the accession of Edgar 
there was no bishop in any of those united 
kingdoms. As that rank of the ministry, 
though recognized among them, was not ne- 
cessary to the completeness of their ecclesias- 
tical order, it was easily allowed to fall into dis- 
use when no special effort was put forth to keep 
it in place. Edgar did not attempt to supply 
the lack — " did not attempt to introduce a paro- 
chial church north of the Forth," but limited 



THE R OMISH CHURCH G O VERNMENT. I 5 3 

his ecclesiastical enterprise to the Saxon de- 
pendency between the Forth and Tweed. 1 In 
that quarter he refounded the monastery of 
Coldingham and established some churches on 
the parochial plan. But when his brothers — 
Alexander as king to the north of the great 
firths, and David as earl in the south — succeed- 
ed him, their mother's policy of assimilating the 
Church in their native land to that of Rome 
was at once resumed. 

Alexander in the first year of his reign (i 107) 
filled the vacancy in St. Andrews by appoint- 
ing Turgot, prior of Durham, his mother's con- 
fessor and biographer, to the bishopric, and cre- 
ated two new sees, one for Moray and the 
other for Dunkeld. Moray was an earldom 
scarcely yet assured to the Scottish crown from 
its old hostility, continued in the family of Mac- 
beth. The new ecclesiastical establishment, 
when in time it took effect, went to strengthen 
the ties of allegiance. Dunkeld was the seat 
of an old church rebuilt by Kenneth MacAl- 
pine, founder of the Scottish dominion over 
the Picts. It was a Columbite institution, and 
for a time the head of Scottish ecclesiasticism 
in the land of the Picts. With the rise of St. 
Andrews it lost that place of honor. Still, it 
occupied a rank of some distinction in having 
given the reigning dynasty to the kingdom. 

1 Skene, ii. 368. 



154 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

It was now transformed into a Romish bishop- 
ric by substituting a bishop for the Columbite 
superior. The ample territories still in its pos- 
session were such as to endow the new foun- 
dation with consistent dignity and complete- 
ness. 

Upon St. Andrews, however, the higher honor 
was conferred, and to its bishop were " the fate 
and fortunes of the Culdee establishments " 
throughout the kingdom committed. 1 Most 
clearly, from the beginning of that reign, was 
it the royal intention to abolish the Scottish 
Church to make place for the Romish. 

Meanwhile, during the whole of Alexander's 
reign in the north, David was pursuing the same 
policy in the southern dependencies "over which 
he ruled as earl." About 1115 he restored the 
diocese of Glasgow, and directed an inquiry to 
be made " by the elders and wise men of Cum- 
bria into the lands and churches which formerly 
belonged to the see." Upon the information 
thus obtained he reconstructed the bishopric, 
in 1 1 20 or 1 1 21, to include all the territory of 
Cumbria then belonging to Scotland and as far 
as the Tweed. Lothian was chiefly Saxon, both 
by blood and religion, and was assigned to St. 
Andrews. Galloway, though belonging to Scot- 
land, was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
of York. 

1 Skene, ii. 372. 



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THE ROMISH CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 155 

David, after he had become king of the whole 
country, continued to prosecute his work for the 
Church with increasing zeal until it amounted to 
a war of extermination against everything be- 
longing to the native establishment. The dis- 
jointed style of government in the Scottish 
Church, now enfeebled by internal decay, was 
unable to present an effective resistance to 
the intrusion of such a compacted ecclesiasti- 
cal host, marched in upon it with such steady 
persistence. 

In King David's long reign of nearly thirty 
years the diocesan system was completely es- 
tablished over the whole kingdom, with parish 
boundaries prescribed for separate presbyters 
or vicars in their respective cures. 

In constructing the dioceses all native insti- 
tutions were seized and turned to the service 
of the intruder. Glasgow, St. Andrews, Dun- 
keld and Moray were already created or recon- 
structed when David began to reign — all except 
Moray being the conversion, each one, of the 
single bishopric of a formerly independent king- 
dom. In a few years more the rest of the work 
was done. A bishop of Ross between 1 128 and 
1 1 30 held jurisdiction over the breadth of the 
mainland south of Sutherland, sustained by the 
transfer of an ancient Columban college with 
its revenues. 1 The diocese of the two north- 

1 Skene, ii. 377, 378. 



I 56 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ern counties, Caithness and Sutherland, was 
constituted in the early part of the same 
reign, though perhaps not fully established 
until the end of it. And by appropriation of 
several preceding institutions was that of Aber- 
deen created. Brechin and Dunblane were con- 
structed out of fragments into which the old 
Pictish bishopric of Abernethy had been bro- 
ken down. 

The example of King David was, in this re- 
spect, followed by his powerful but refractory 
noble, Fergus, lord of Galloway, and his rival, 
Olaus (Aulay), Norwegian king of the isles. 
By the former the diocese of Galloway was 
reconstituted, subject to the archbishop of 
York ; and by the latter, that of the Sudreys 
(Sodor) and Man about the year 11 34. By 
Sudreys was meant the Hebrides, as lying 
south from the Orkney and Shetland groups. 
The Isle of Man was the residence of the 
Norse king of the isles. 

At the death of David, in 11 53, the trans- 
formation was complete. Nine episcopal sees 
comprehended the whole territory of the king- 
dom to be thus disposed of — namely, St. An- 
drews, Glasgow, Dunkeld, Dunblane, Brechin, 
Aberdeen, Moray, Ross and Caithness. The 
Shetland and Orkney isles, being under Nor- 
wegian rule, were not brought into the system 
until the next century, and the diocese of Argyll, 



THE ROMISH CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 1 57 

or Lismore, was not separated from that of 
Dunkeld until 1222. 1 Whithorn was still ec- 
clesiastically connected with York. Twelve 
dioceses covered the utmost extent that Scot- 
land ever reached. 

Upon the whole, as many of the Scottish 
clergy as submitted were assigned to subor- 
dinate places, generally perhaps as priests or 
curates to minister in the parishes. The native 
monastic system being abolished, the superin- 
tendence and working of the new system was 
put into the hands of aliens. It was doubtless 
perceived that the foreign Church could be best 
managed by foreigners, at least until the nation 
should be reconciled to it. 

Of course the service instituted for the dio- 
ceses, as well as the cathedral constitution, was 
foreign. Both were, for the most part, copied 
from England. " Glasgow and Dunkeld fol- 
lowed the model of Salisbury ; Moray, Aber- 
deen and Caithness that of Lincoln. The Brevi- 
ary and Missal of Salisbury formed the ritual of 
all the Scottish dioceses." 2 

In the establishment of prelacy after the Eng- 
lish model it followed that the English metropol- 
itans claimed jurisdiction over the bishops in 
Scotland. But to admit that would have been 
to surrender the national independence, and on 

1 Skene, ii. 396, 397 ; St. Giles Led., p. 73. 

2 Joseph Robertson, Quarterly Rev., June, 1840. 



158 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the part of the king the control of what he had 
himself created. One step more must be taken. 
A Scottish primacy must be constituted. The 
necessity was early perceived, and action taken 
in regard to it by Alexander I., who turned the 
revenues of St. Andrews into an endowment 
for the new metropolitanate. Turgot, the first 
incumbent, was a Saxon, who had been a monk 
and prior of St. Cuthbert's in Durham. He 
found much difficulty in getting his office into 
satisfactory relations with the English metro- 
politans and Romish practices on the one hand, 
and the royal authority, the priests and practices 
of the Scottish Church on the other. 1 He was 
appointed in 1107, when still the only bishop in 
what was then called Scotia, and was conse- 
crated at York in 1109, with reservation of the 
rights of both sees. After six years of trouble 
he went into England for advice, and never came 
back. The see was again vacant until 1 1 20. 
His successor, Eadmer, also a Saxon, a monk of 
Canterbury, found the same difficulties. Some 
clergy of his native country advised him to com- 
ply with the usages of the Scottish Church as far 
as he could " without dishonoring his character 
or hazarding his salvation." In their estimate, 
it seems, the difference between the Scottish 
Church and the Romish, on some points, was 
vital. Eadmer preferred to abandon the strife, 

1 Skene, i. 450. 



THE ROMISH CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 1 59 

and returned to England. Again the see was 
left vacant, and after Eadmer's death, in 1124, 
Alexander again chose a Saxon, 1 but one better 
acquainted with the country, having been some 
time prior of the monastery of regular canons 
at Scone, established by Alexander in the 
beginning of his reign. The king wanted a 
Scottish primacy without dependence on Eng- 
land ; could he not find a Scotsman able and 
willing to take that honorable place ? It seems 
not, or that he felt unwilling to trust any of 
them with so much influence over his plans. 
Robert the monk had to contend with the same 
difficulties which discouraged his predecessors, 
but he weathered through them, and in the 
fourth year of King David was consecrated 
by the archbishop of York, " as Turgot had 
been, reserving the rights of both churches," 
and held the office until his death, in 11 58 or 
1 1 59. The bishop of St. Andrews, however, 
did not reach full recognition of his metropol- 
itan honors until long afterward. The arch- 
bishop of York persisted in the claim of 
superiority over all the bishoprics of the 
north, nor at first would the pope interfere 
to restrain his ambition or to enforce compli- 
ance. 

1 Burton, i. 423. 



CHAPTER IV. 

INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM. 

DURING the same reigns another branch of 
the Romish ecclesiastical empire was plant- 
ed in Scotland. Monachism is not an integral 
part of the Roman Catholic Church. It is 
rather a foreign resident which has obtained 
naturalization under severe conditions, never 
entirely removed. And yet in a large part of 
her history Roman Catholicism has fostered the 
regular monastic orders as valuable auxiliaries. 
But the royal sons of St. Margaret thought the 
Church not complete without the monastery, and 
set up the two side by side, as if they had been 
the two halves of a unit. 

To neither the diocesan nor the monastic sys- 
tem were the Scottish clergy held to belong. 
They were set aside to make way for the bish- 
ops, and totally ignored when bringing in the 
orders. If the bishoprics in Scotland were 
every one constructed on an English model, 1 
and an Englishman was appointed to preside 
over their working, the monasteries were a 

1 Joseph Robertson, in the Quarterly Rev., June, 1849, p. 117. 
160 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM. l6l 

wholesale importation, entirely of foreign ma- 
terial. Buildings for them were erected after 
the example of those in England or on the 
Continent, and the monks and nuns were im- 
ported from abroad. The work of their multi- 
plication was carried forward by Kings Edgar, 
Alexander and David parallel with their recon- 
struction of the Church, until the land was full 
of them. Ed^ar had no sooner secured him- 
self on the throne than he began (1098) by re- 
storing the monastery of Coldingham among 
his Saxon subjects on the English border, pro- 
viding it with abundant endowment and supply- 
ing it with Benedictine monks from Durham. 
He also founded a priory at Dunfermline, which 
was afterward remodeled by King David, who 
made it an abbey and placed in it Benedictine 
monks brought from Canterbury. 1 In 11 14, 
Alexander erected an abbey for regular can- 
ons of St. Augustine at Scone, and in 11 23 
another for the same order on Inchcolm, and 
others elsewhere. 

But in abundance of this kind of work Da- 
vid I. distanced all rivalry. In 11 28 he estab- 
lished an abbey of Augustinians at Edinburgh, 
which, being dedicated to the Holy Cross, was 
called of the Holy Rood. He built at Melrose, 
upon the ruins of the old Columban institution, 
an abbey for Cistercian monks brought from 

1 Gaz. of Scot., i. p. 389; Skene, ii. 392. 
11 



1 62 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

England ; also the abbey of Cambus Kenneth 
for Augustinian monks from France ; also that 
at Kelso, that at Jedburgh and others, besides 
priories in various parts of the kingdom. He 
furnished establishments for Knights Templars 
and Knights of St. John, whom he was the first 
to bring into Scotland. He also erected monas- 
tic houses for Cistercian nuns at Berwick, Three 
Fountains, and at Gulane in East Lothian. 

Again the example of the monarch was imi- 
tated by some of his wealthy nobility. Fergus, 
lord of Galloway, founded for Premonstra- 
tensian monks the abbey of Soulseat near 
Stranraer, and another at Tungland, and one 
for Cistercians at Dundrennan. Hugh de 
Moreville, constable of Scotland, erected the 
abbey of Dryburgh on the Tweed, and that of 
Kilwinning in Ayrshire. Cospatrick, earl of 
March, built a convent for Cistercian nuns at 
Coldstream, and another at Eccles in Berwick- 
shire. 

In brief, when this enterprise of extinguish- 
ing the Scottish Church was complete, "not 
less than one hundred and fifty religious houses 
of all kinds" were established within the bounds 
of Scotland, " many of them richly endowed." 
A large portion of the best soil of the country 
had been transferred to foreign monks and 
nuns. 1 That many of the earlier monks were 

1 Dr. Campbell's St. Giles Lecture. 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM. 163 

skillful farmers and generous landlords was 
so far good, but the time came when they were 
neither ; and irrespective of that consideration, 
certainly the conduct of the king was the most 
extraordinary imposition ever inflicted upon an 
unsubdued people. 

Whether it might not have been better to 
reconstruct the Scottish Church, and reform 
what needed reformation in it, would at that 
date have been unprofitable speculation. Its 
enemy was on the throne. That the change 
turned out to be for good in a great crisis of the 
national history will appear in the subsequent 
narrative. But, however well intended or how- 
ever turning out, it looks to us at this distance 
of time and place as a singularly high-handed 
course of conduct. No doubt some of its de- 
tails were as cruel as its general policy was arbi- 
trary. Considering what Scotsmen are in spirit 
and independence, the serenity with which they, 
or some of them, write about the innovation is 
not a little remarkable. The king who seizes 
their entire Church and all its property, turns 
out their whole national clergy, and without 
consulting the religious preferences of the 
nation intrudes upon it a foreign Church with 
a great array of expensive foreign dignita- 
ries, on whom he not only confers all that 
belonged to the national Church, but also 
lays an enormous burden of taxation upon the 



164 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

country to sustain the rank of the new and ex- 
pensive class of nobility, is, in the language 
of some of their writers, " the saintly David." 
People in the ordinary way of speaking about 
such a ruler would use less complimentary 
terms. King James VI. said of David that 
he was "a sair sanct for the Croun." But, in 
fact, David's lavish expenditure, whatever it 
may have drawn from the legitimate resources 
of the Crown, was mainly furnished by his ex- 
actions from the people in the parishes and 
seizure of the entire national Church and rob- 
bery of her clerical servants. 

It is vain to ask if he did any private injus- 
tice. Of course he did, in such a sweeping 
confiscation. Culdees resisted, but they could 
only protest. If they would retain a place in 
the Church, they had to accept it under the 
new organization, and abjure their own. In 
some 'places their order was disintegrated grad- 
ually, a law being enacted that when one of 
their number died his place should be filled by 
a canon of the Catholic Church ; in others they 
were allowed to retain their own order, but 
under such limitations as to reduce them to 
insignificancy ; and in others they were at once 
abolished by an act of extinction. 

Of David's arbitrary way of treating the 
owners of the property he seized evidence re- 
mains in his own hand's work. One example 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTIC ISM. 1 65 

will suffice. In a charter conveying the Cul- 
dee abbacy of Lochleven to St. Andrews for 
establishing a priory of Augustinian canons 
there, King David declares that he has given 
and granted to the canons of St. Andrews the 
island of Lochleven, that they might establish 
canonical order there ; and the Keledei who 
shall be found there, if they consent to live as 
regulars, shall be permitted to remain in socie- 
ty with and subject to the others ; but should 
any of them be disposed to offer resistance, his 
will and pleasure is that such should be expelled 
from the island. 1 Some colleges of Culdees 
submitted to that helpless dependency where 
they had once been principal, and, suffering 
successive diminutions of duties and import- 
ance, prolonged a half-alive existence for a 
century — some for more than two centuries. 
It was cruel injustice to the memory of the 
blessed and glorious days of Scottish evangel- 
ism to deprive that ministry of everything that 
made it valuable, and to keep its weakness on 
exhibition. 

That long and lingering death was spared 
Iona. In 1203, Pope Innocent III. took the isl- 
and under his protection and filled her cells 
with Benedictine monks. 

What the sentiment of the Scottish people 
was we can only conjecture, for the records of 

1 Skene, ii. 388, 



1 66 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Scotland now passed into hands which exercised 
a retrospective care in manipulating those of 
the past as well as in tingeing with their own 
colors the facts of current history. But what 
were the feelings of the Celtic people toward 
their more than half-Saxon rulers is put beyond 
a doubt by the repeated insurrections to drive 
them and their successors from the throne. 

Within the same twelfth century the Irish 
Church was also subordinated to the great dic- 
tator of religious profession. In 1 1 71, Henry 
II. entered upon the conquest of Ireland, which 
resulted in bringing that country under Eng- 
lish and papal dominion. In 1282, Wales was 
finally subdued, and the last resistance to Eng- 
lish power in South Britain brought to a end. 
The papacy now spread its wings over all the 
formerly unfettered churches of the British 
Isles. 

The ancient Scottish Church may be pre- 
sumed to have been worse than the Romish, 
or better ; but all pretension that it was the 
same is indubitably in error, seeing that a 
national revolution was needed to make it 
conform, and the effect of conformity was ex- 
tinction. 

Yet it must be said for the king that he un- 
doubtedly believed himself in the right. He 
had been educated religiously, under the influ- 
ence of a mother and a sister both devoted 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM. 1 67 

Roman Catholics, and of intelligence and of 
consistency of life to recommend their faith. 
During his long residence in England he had 
been impressed with the regularity and impe- 
rial weight of power evinced by the Church of 
which the pope was the head. On the other 
hand, the Scottish Church appeared to be in a 
state of decay, without any common centre of 
authority or source of protection. In one quar- 
ter and another he saw it the prey of a rapa- 
cious layman, who, under the name of abbot, 
turned its property to his own use, leaving to 
his prior and a dozen Culdees some remnants 
of the income and all the work of the ministry. 
To strengthen a feeble Church, to provide 
for the ordinances of religion among the peo- 
ple, and to turn the property so alienated into 
its right channel again, was certainly a good 
work for a king. But the whole religious con- 
struction needed to be renovated, built up anew 
from the foundation. Must it not also be built 
with sound material ? In the kind's mind of 
course there was no question. The Roman 
Church was the only true Church. To put it 
into the place of the feeble Scottish Church 
was a duty to the nation and to God. And 
whatever was needed to effect that end was 
right. Nor is it to be denied that the union 
of Scotland with the Catholic Church was at 
that time, and for the next hundred and fifty 



1 68 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

years, of unspeakable benefit to her progress 
in civilization and general national prosperity. 

Scotland came into the Catholic Church at 
the beginning of those changes in church build- 
ing which created the Gothic style of architec- 
ture. Her religious revolution, in the first half 
of the twelfth century, made an extraordinary 
demand — in fact, more than could be immedi- 
ately met — for new buildings. All the parishes, 
with few exceptions, had to be provided for. 
The new bishoprics claimed cathedrals, and the 
bishops palaces consistent with their dignity. 
The multitude of monastic colonies had to be 
supplied with their appropriate accommoda- 
tions. All this could not be done at once. 
Of course necessity took precedence of ele- 
gance. As far as existing Scottish buildings 
could answer the purpose they were converted 
to it, but all new structures were copied from 
those of their kind in England. 

At that period the architectural style preva- 
lent in England was the Romanesque, charac- 
terized by its round arches, its roofed towers, 
its correspondent sobriety of decoration and 
balance of sentiment between that of aspiration 
and repose. It could not fail to be transported 
with the spiritual structure into Scotland. Ca- 
thedrals and abbeys took longer time to finish, 
and some of them were not begun until many 
years after the death of David L, and when fin- 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM 1 69 

ished exhibited features of successive varieties of 
architectural progress. But the parish churches, 
a first necessity, where they did not retain the 
humbler character of the old Scottish, were prob- 
ably all constructed after the Romanesque. " By 
far the greater number of ancient parish churches 
of which fragments still exist" are of that style. 1 
As many of the finest ecclesiastical buildings 
in Scotland reached their completeness in the 
latter part of the twelfth century and at dif- 
ferent dates in the thirteenth, they presented 
more or less the graceful and stately outlines 
of successive varieties of the Gothic, then in 
England rising toward its maturity of beauty, 
which it reached in the fourteenth century. 
Unfortunately for Scotland, her progress in 
that art was abruptly suspended by the long 
and devastating war of independence, and ages 
of industry were needed to replenish the cof- 
fers of the builder. King Robert I., when vic- 
tory had established him upon the throne, 
showed a disposition to repair the losses of 
the Church to the utmost of his power. He 
was present at the consecration of the cathe- 
dral of St. Andrews in 1318, and endowed it 
with the gift of a hundred marks a year, and 
toward the rebuilding of Melrose, laid in ruins 
by English invasion, he set apart "all the feu- 
dal casualties and crown issues of Teviotdale 

1 Dr. Campbell's St. Giles Lecture. 



170 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

until they should amount to two thousand 
pounds sterling — a sum equal to more than 
fifty thousand pounds in the present day," 1 
and on his deathbed urged that it should 
faithfully be paid. The proceeds do not 
seem to have realized the king's expectations. 
The work went on slowly. Meanwhile, a richer 
variety of Gothic came in vogue in time to honor 
the more advanced part of the abbey with some 
of its most beautiful creations. 

Thence, onward to the Reformation, Scotland 
in her architecture and other arts preferred the 
example of France. 

At the religious revolution, the country must 
have been in a highly prosperous condition to 
afford such sumptuous institutions as it was now 
called upon to sustain. For the Church itself 
there must have been abundant provision — that 
is, for all the parish churches and parish priests. 
But when princely hierarchs had also to be main- 
tained, the drain upon the parishes was greatly 
increased. And when a large proportion of the 
parochial income had also to go into the endow- 
ment of monasteries, or was otherwise disposed 
of, the burden became oppressive. From the 
first, the sons of St. Margaret had adopted the 
practice of conferring the revenues of parishes 
upon monastic houses. It increased as the 
twelfth century went on, and into the follow- 

1 Quarterly Rev., June, 1849, P- r 4°- 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTICISM. lyl 

ing. " In the reign of William the Lion thirty- 
three parish churches were bestowed on the 
abbey of Arbroath. Dunfermline had as 
many ; Paisley, thirty ; Holyrood, twenty-sev- 
en ; Melrose, Kelso and Lindores, nearly simi- 
lar numbers. The revenues of bishoprics were 
increased from the same source. In the early 
part of King William's reign the bishopric of 
Glasgow possessed twenty-five churches, and 
several more were afterward acquired by it." 
" Seven hundred Scottish parishes — probably 
two-thirds of the whole number — were vicar- 
ages ; that is to say, the greater tithes of corn, 
etc. went to the monks and bishops, while the 
vicar, who performed the parochial duties, got 
only the lesser tithes or a very small money 
stipend." After dividing their earnings with the 
bishop and the great distant house of monks, 
the parishioners and their vicar must, many a 
time, have found the residue a scanty support. 
''The underpaid curate was despised for his pov- 
erty, which disabled him from worthily minister- 
ing to the varied wants of his parishioners, while 
those emoluments which would have provided a 
comfortable subsistence for a resident clergy- 
man were carried off to the distant monastery 
or to the bishop's palace." 1 

Had those burdens accumulated by an insen- 
sible process of growth out of fundamental 

1 Dr. Campbell's St. Giles Led. 



\*]2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

principles admitted by the public to be right, 
as they had grown in most countries on the 
Continent, they might have been borne meekly 
as a necessity of Christian life. In Scotland 
the people had learned the demands of the 
gospel in another way — a way which had no 
leading in that direction. Romanism in its 
full maturity, both secular and regular, was 
stamped down upon them, without prepara- 
tion for it, by purely absolute authority. They 
did not submit without a struggle, repeated 
struggles, but the royal arm proved the strong- 
er. The really reconciling element, however, 
seems to have been the parish. Already in 
their own Church some tendency toward a 
parochial division of Christian work had be- 
gun to appear in certain quarters, and the 
completeness of the plan seems to have fall- 
en in with the development of a native idea. 
Moreover, of all the work under Romanism 
parish work was that in which the Scottish 
clergy could most freely engage, and prob- 
ably by them, in the first instance, were the 
parishes chiefly supplied. Reconciled thereby, 
the people were gradually brought to submit 
to other things, the value of which was not 
equally clear to them. 

In less than one hundred years after the 
death of King David, another reinforcement 
was made to the host of monastic orders in 



INTRODUCTION OF ROMISH MONASTIC ISM. 1 73 

an influx of Dominican and Franciscan friars. 
Organized for service in itinerant preaching, 
those orders could find no proper occasion for 
their presence where the secular clergy were 
faithful to duty. Whether in the thirteenth 
century that occasion existed in Scotland or 
not, we find it stated that there, as elsewhere, 
although they may at first have done good, yet 
upon the whole their influence proved inju- 
rious by creating dissension among the clergy 
and alienation between the people and their 
pastors. 



CHAPTER V. 

PAPAL SCOTLAND.— NATIONAL CONSOLIDATION. 

KING DAVID L, saint by suffrage of ad- 
mirers, but without canonization, left his 
kingdom enlarged by the firm annexation of 
Moray on the north, and of all the south main- 
land to the line of the Solway, the Cheviot 
mountains and the lower Tweed, but with the 
national resources at the disposal of the Crown 
greatly diminished. His tenure of Northum- 
bria and that part of Cumbria south of the 
Solway did not constitute them provinces of 
Scotland. They were surrendered after his 
death. His earldom of Huntingdon was sub- 
sequently confirmed to his successor, on condi- 
tion of paying homage to the king of England 
for it. But his extensive possessions in Eng- 
land, obtained with his wife, passed at her 
death into the hands of her son by a former 
marriage. 

David's only son, Henry, with the consent 
of Stephen, king of England, was made earl of 
Northumbria. Henry dying before his father, 
in 1 1 52, the succession to the throne of Scot- 

174 



PAPAL SCOTLAND. 1/5 

land fell to his eldest son, Malcolm, not quite 
twelve years of age. By royal appointment 
the earl of Fife, chief of the seven native earls 
of Scotland, acted the part of guardian, and, 
securing the allegiance of his peers, crowned 
the young king without the intervention of a 
regency (1153). The policy was prudent. A 
war from the side of the Celtic population was 
already moving under Somerled, king of Ar- 
gyll. It was successfully encountered, but not 
brought to an end until after five years (1159). 1 
It was followed next year by a rebellion within 
the kingdom, led by six of the seven native 
earls. They failed in their attempt, and the 
kino- received them ao-ain into favor. In the 
same year he reduced Galloway finally to sub- 
jection, and the restlessness of Moray was 
terminated by scattering its native inhabitants 
elsewhere, and filling their places with more 
peaceful subjects — no doubt largely Saxons 
and Normans. Four years afterward (11 64) 
another invasion was made by Somerled of 
Argyll, which was brought to an end by the 
death of its leader. 

At the end of twelve years Malcolm IV. 
died, and was succeeded by his brother Wil- 
liam, called the Lion. The district of Ross was 
now annexed to the kingdom. Another rebel- 
lion of the Celtic population put forward, as 

1 Skene, i., ch. ix. 



176 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

candidate for the throne, a Celtic leader, Don- 
ald Ban Macwilliam, a descendant of Duncan, 
oldest son of Malcolm III. by his first wife, a 
Norwegian. It was followed by an insurrec- 
tion in Galloway, and another in Stratherne, 
which carried its attacks into Lothian, and 
afterward joined the insurgents in Galloway. 
But there Reginald, the royalist leader, who 
had already worsted his domestic enemies, en- 
countered and repelled them. Caithness was 
taken by force out of the hands of the Nor- 
wegian earl, and annexed more intimately to 
the kingdom of Scotland. And an insurrec- 
tion of the people of Ross, repressed in the 
last years of William's reign, brought that 
province also into more complete subjection. 
Occasion was given to some of these disor- 
ders by William's misfortunes abroad. In the 
beginning of his reign, grieved for the loss of 
Northumberland by Malcolm, he demanded 
from the king of England its restitution. 
That being refused, he attempted to recov- 
er it by arms. The Yorkshire barons, march- 
ing to meet the invading army, by accident 
captured the Scottish king. They sent him 
to their king, Henry II., then in France, 1 and 
Henry shut him up in the stronghold of Fa- 
laise. There he was retained until December, 
1 1 74, when he was set free under a treaty 

1 Buchanan, i. 294. 



PAPAL SCOTLAND. 1?/ 

whereby he submitted to hold Scotland as a 
feudal dependency of the English crown, for 
which he was to do homage as absolute as that 
of any other vassal of England. As pledge for 
the fulfillment of these conditions he was con- 
strained to yield five of the strongest places in 
Scotland — viz. Edinburgh, Stirling, Berwick, 
Jedburgh and Roxburgh — to be held by Eng- 
lish troops. 

This exorbitant ransom was, fifteen years 
afterward (1189), completely remitted and the 
English garrisons withdrawn by Richard I., 
Cceur de Lion, among the first acts of his 
reign, who instead of it accepted the sum of 
ten thousand marks, more valuable to him, in 
his contemplated crusade, than an empty hom- 
age. In her troubles under King John, Eng- 
land saw a Scottish army once more upon her 
borders for recovery of the contested provinces. 
Nothing was effected. William died (1214), 
leaving the unsettled controversy to his son, 
Alexander II. It was closed in 1237 by the king 
of England conferring upon the king of Scot- 
land certain lands in Cumberland and Northum- 
berland, to be held in feudal tenure. But the 
peace effected thereby was brief. In 1222 com- 
missioners were appointed on both sides to de- 
termine a boundary-line between the kingdoms. 
After two separate trials they failed to agree. 

Alexander II. had reigned barely a year when 
12 



178 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the two Celtic parties of Donald Ban Macwil- 
liam and Malcolm Macbeth united to recover 
the throne. But a new Celtic party now arose 
in favor of the reigning house. Its head, Fer- 
quard Maclntagart, was descended from the 
abbot of the old Scottish monastery of Ap- 
plecross, and heir of its large possessions, 
which had not yet come into the kingdom as 
now constituted. With his own means Macln- 
tagart reduced the rebellion and presented the 
heads of its leaders to the king. In that act the 
northern part of what was then Argyll, being the 
inheritance of Maclntagart, was peacefully an- 
nexed. 

Southern Argyll still belonged to the family 
of Somerled. Alexander marched into it at the 
head of an army. The people, having- no lead- 
er in whom they had confidence, submitted with- 
out resistance. Thus was the possession of the 
mainland completed. 

By these conquests on the north and west the 
dominion of Norway had been to the same ex- 
tent diminished. It was now the purpose of the 
Scottish kings to regain the long-alienated isles. 
Proposals were made to Hakon, king of Nor- 
way, to surrender them. Hakon refused, on 
the ground that his right to them had been 
conceded by Malcolm III. and afterward by 
Edgar. Alexander proposed to purchase them. 
Hakon declined the offer. Alexander then un- 



FATAL SCOTLAND. 1 79 

dertook to recover them by force of arms, but 
had only commenced operations on the island 
of Kerreray when he died, July 8, 1249. His 
son, Alexander III., on the fifth day afterward, 
was crowned at Scone, although not quite eight 
years old. 

Celtic opposition, since the example of Mac- 
Intagart, had been yielding to the apparently 
irresistible course of events. It was now for- 
mally surrendered. At the coronation of Alex- 
ander III., after the king had received the hom- 
age of the feudal baronage of the kingdom, 
Saxon and Norman, as well as that of the 
seven earls, a Highland senachie advanced, 
and, hailing him king of Alban, recited his 
pedigree, through a long line of Gaelic kings, 
from the founder of the race — a formal Celtic 
acknowledgment of the new king as belonging 
to the true Scottish line. Next year the bones 
of Queen Margaret were, in presence of the 
king, the seven earls and seven bishops, sol- 
emnly taken up and deposited in a shrine set 
with gold and precious stones. At last the 
Scoto-Saxon family had received a voluntary 
recognition from the Celtic people, to whose 
preferences, in religion or otherwise, they had 
never paid much regard. But that royal line 
had ceased to be Celtic in its spirit, and in suc- 
cessive generations had partaken increasingly 
of Saxon blood. In the case of Alexander II. 



180 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

and Alexander III. it became allied to the Nor- 
man, and in the death of the latter became ex- 
tinct. 

Among the southern Hebrides and on the 
coast of Lorn the Scottish monarchy began 
in the hands of the Dalriad Scots. But while 
in prosecution of gains on the mainland it had 
been advancing eastward, northward and south- 
ward, Norwegian arms had been allowed to 
take possession of its original seat of power. 
In 1249 an attempt to compel the earl of Ar- 
gyll to transfer to Scotland the homage which 
he paid for certain isles to Norway gave occa- 
sion to the campaign of Alexander II., in which 
he died. The earl of Ross also and others 
were charged by the Norsemen with hostilely 
invading their island dominion. Much anxiety 
was created among them thereby. In the fail- 
ure of negotiations, Hakon, king of Norway, 
resolved upon a naval expedition for the pro- 
tection of his distant subjects and the chastise- 
ment of their invaders. 

In the summer of 1263 the armament was 
complete, the largest and best-equipped that 
had ever sailed from the land of the Vikings. 
Committing the general government to the 
hands of his son, the heroic old king, who had 
ruled that warlike people forty-and-six years, 
put himself at the head of the expedition. 
Proceeding first to Orkney, the principal seat 



PAPAL SCOTLAND. l8l 

of Norwegian rule for the northern isles, as 
Man was for the southern, his operations were 
thence addressed to the coasts of the Scottish 
mainland. The attack fell like a tempest from 
the Atlantic, sweeping all along as far south as 
Ayrshire, and penetrating in some places to a 
great distance inland. About the end of Sep- 
tember the main body of the fleet, to the num- 
ber of one hundred and sixty ships, rounded 
the Mull of Kintyre and assumed a position in 
the firth of Clyde. Negotiations were attempt- 
ed on the part of the Scots. They were willing 
to acknowledge the Norwegian as king of all 
the islands outside of Kintyre. But Hakon 
demanded also those within, the possession of 
which would have given him command of the 
firth, and thereby entrance to the very heart 
of Scotland. It could not be conceded, and 
Hakon would be content with nothing less. 
While they delayed the weather became stormy, 
and some of the Norwegian ships were strand- 
ed near the village of Largs. Hakon sent 
troops to assist in bringing them off; they 
were encountered by Scottish forces. Both sides 
were hastily reinforced, and the conflict became 
a battle which proved disastrous to the Nor- 
wegians. The storm continued and increased. 
The great armament was scattered, and many 
of the ships were destroyed. Hakon withdrew 
the shattered fleet to Orkney. So serious was 



1 82 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

his loss that the hope of repairing it could not 
be entertained. Utterly broken in spirit, the 
old sea-king shrank from facing his people of 
Norway. He lingered in Orkney under great 
despondency, and seeking consolation or for- 
getfulness in the duties of religion, and in lis- 
tening to the Bible, to lives of the saints, and 
adventures of his heroic predecessors, the old 
Norwegian kings. He died on the 12th of 
December the same year. 

With the battle of Largs terminated the long 
career of Scandinavian aggression on the west 
coast of Scotland. Three years afterward 
(1266) a treaty was formed whereby the Heb- 
rides and the Isle of Man were transferred to 
the full sovereignty of the Scottish crown, for 
which the sum of one thousand marks was to 
be paid and the yearly rent of one hundred 
marks. Orkney and Shetland remained Nor- 
wegian until 1469, when they were pledged by 
Christian I., king of Denmark, Sweden and 
Norway, as security for his daughter's dowry 
when married to the king of Scotland. The 
dowry never was paid, and the islands never 
returned to their Scandinavian allegiance. 
They were subsequently constituted a county 
of the Scottish kingdom and annexed as a 
diocese to the Scottish Church. 

After the death of Alexander III., the Isle 
of Man was placed by its inhabitants under 



PAPAL SCOTLAND. 1 83 

the protection of Edward I. of England, and 
created an English diocese as that of Sodor 
and Man. 

Excepting the invasion by Hakon, the reign 
of Alexander III. was little disturbed by mili- 
tary events, and was one of great national 
prosperity. The family relations in which the 
king stood to the royal house of England were 
faithfully respected, and the peace with Nor- 
way was fortified in 1281 by the marriage of 
Alexander's daughter to the crown-prince Eric. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCOTLAND SUBMITS TO BE A ROMISH PROVINCE. 

AMONG the effects of that revolution which 
extinguished the old British, Irish and Scot- 
tish churches was the union of all the churches 
of the British kingdoms under spiritual alle- 
giance to Rome — an important element of power 
to England, who had been the agent in effect- 
ing it, and whose religion was thereby estab- 
lished over all. In the case of Ireland and 
Wales it was connected with military subjuga- 
tion ; in Scotland it was the work of English 
influence engrafted on the native royal stock ; 
but there also it led the way to English pre- 
tensions to superiority. Those pretensions 
appeared first among the high ecclesiastics. 

With the introduction of so many English 
clergy into Scotland the archbishops of Canter- 
bury and York began to claim jurisdiction over 
ecclesiastical affairs in that kingdom. The arch- 
bishop of York especially urged with great per- 
sistency his metropolitan rights over all the terri- 
tory north of the Humber, and that it belonged 
to him to appoint even the principal bishop of St. 

184 



SCOTLAND A ROMISH PROVINCE. 1 85 

Andrews. The Scottish king manfully resisted. 
He could not fail to see that if a subject of the 
English king were allowed those claims, the 
English king himself would follow with claims 
still more exorbitant. In the conflict which en- 
sued the metropolitan honors of St. Andrews 
were long deferred. 

In the treaty of Falaise — that instrument by 
which William the Lion purchased his personal 
freedom at the expense of a formal surrender 
of his kingdom's independence — an attempt 
was made to subordinate also the Church of 
Scotland to that of England. But a complete 
Catholic hierarchy now existed in the former, 
and, the more effectually to repel the persistent 
obtrusion, recourse was had to papal authority. 
The pope made his first interference in the af- 
fairs of his new province by protecting it. 

At Northampton a papal legate held an 
ecclesiastical conference in presence of King 
Henry, the king of Scotland, with the bishop 
of St. Andrews and five other Scottish bishops, 
being also present. The Scottish prelates were 
there called upon to submit to the terms of the 
treaty and take their place as subordinate to 
the English Church. They denied the right to 
any such supremacy. And when the archbish- 
op of York asserted his claim over Glasgow 
and Galloway, Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, took 
the ground that he was under the immediate 



1 86 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

authority of the pope. After the conference, 
the Scottish bishops sent agents to Rome, who 
obtained a papal bull fully vindicating the posi- 
tion of Scotland as a separate province of the 
Romish Church, and forbidding all interference 
with it. Thus, to escape the aggressions of one 
foreign power the little kingdom acknowledged 
the jurisdiction of another, for the pope pro- 
tected her from English metropolitanism by 
declaring her a province of his own empire. 
Sleepless watchfulness was needed to main- 
tain the national standing. 

About the same time the cardinal legate, 
Vivian Tomasi, arrived in England. He also 
visited Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. 
The new relations effected or contemplated with 
those countries rendered some personal obser- 
vation of them expedient on the part of the 
papal court. In Scotland the legate held a 
council. Of its transactions little is known, 
except its limitation of the immunities and 
revenues of the Cistercian monks. 1 Its prin- 
cipal effect, perhaps, was that of further famil- 
iarizing the people with papal authority, and 
making a demonstration of interest in them. 

The weight of the pontifical hand was also 
invoked in a domestic episcopal dispute. A 
vacancy having occurred in the see of St. 
Andrews (n 78), the chapter forthwith elect- 

1 Burton, ii. 5. 



SCOTLAND A ROMISH PROVINCE. 1 87 

ed their own candidate, John Scot. But the 
king, whose prerogative was thus slighted, had 
designed Hugh, his own chaplain, for the place, 
and actually put him in possession of its tem- 
poralities. John appealed to the pope, and ob- 
tained a decision in his favor. But the king 
held the endowments, and banished John from 
the country. Again the pope was called on to 
interfere. The archbishop of York and the 
bishop of Durham were vested with powers to 
decide the case, and commenced action in the 
spirit of former assumptions. But at that 
juncture the pope, Alexander III., died, and 
his successor preferred to settle the matter by 
a decision of his own. A compromise was ef- 
fected. Hugh was put into full possession of 
St. Andrews, and John was content with the 
bishopric of Dunkeld. 1 

Not many additions were made to the mo- 
nastic institutions of David I. in the next four 
succeeding reigns ; but one such merits atten- 
tion. The great abbey of Arbroath, erected in 
1 1 78 by William the Lion, was endowed with 
uncommon munificence, and devoted to the 
memory of the recently-made saint Thomas a 
Becket — an act of royal compliment to Rome, 
in whose interest Thomas lost his life ; and 
something of the contrary to the king of 
England, who had received the scourge upon 

1 Burton, ii. 6. 



153 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

his bare shoulders for the death of that same 
St. Thomas. 

The papacy was then at the summit of its 
power. The hand which could inflict an igno- 
minious punishment upon the founder of the 
line of the Plantagenets was able to protect its 
servants, and to punish their enemies of hum- 
bler rank. A case of that kind occurred in 
Scotland within the same reign. In the war 
for Caithness the king of Scots, having proved 
to some extent successful, created his new ter- 
ritory a bishopric. Not long afterward Har- 
old, the Norwegian earl of Orkney, arrived with 
forces to recover the lost province. In storm- 
ing a castle which he took, slaying almost all 
who were in it, the bishop fell a prisoner into 
his hands. Lombard, a layman, informed Pope 
Innocent III. that he was himself " compelled by 
some of the earl's soldiery to cut out the bish- 
op's tongue." For that savage crime the pope 
condemned the earl " to walk about conspicu- 
ously in his own territories fifteen days with 
bare feet and only clothing enough for decency, 
his tongue being so tied as to hang from his 
mouth, while he suffered the active discipline of 
the rod. He was then within a month to set 
forth to Jerusalem, and there serve the cross 
for three years." The far-away Orkney earl 
succeeded in evading the penance. He had 
the sea for his friend. But the event sus- 



SCOTLAND A ROMISH PROVINCE. 1 89 

tained with papal sanction the forces of Wil- 
liam the Lion in that quarter when he appeared 
for the final annexation of Caithness. 1 

The English king, adding to his feudal pre- 
tensions the assumption of dominion over a 
Church ruled by bishops who were created such 
by his own subjects, proposed to collect a tax 
from the new benefices of the neighboring king- 
dom. The pope again interposed and forbade 
him, on the ground that such exaction from the 
domains of a foreign prince was unprecedented. 

But the pope meanwhile was counting up a 
debt of revenue from Scotland in his own favor. 
And, as occasion seemed to demand, he drew 
upon it. When Innocent IV. in 1254 wished to 
persuade Henry III. to undertake a crusade, he 
offered him the twentieth of all the benefices 
in Scotland as a gift out of what belonged to 
the papal treasury. The king and clergy 
united in this case to evade both pretensions. 
They raised the money themselves, and, as the 
plea was a crusade, laid it out upon one of their 
own. A small crusading expedition left Scot- 
land under the earls of Carrick and Athole. 
Whatever came of them, none returned. 

But papal exaction was not always to be 
evaded. Money was the motive-power of 
the engine to which Scotland was now at- 
tached, and it must be collected. A valuation 

1 Burton, ii. 1 1. 



190 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 



■■<■ 



of church property had to be made to deter- 
mine the amount of the tax, and a system of 
legislation constituted to make its payment ob- 
ligatory. A partial estimate of the value of 
church livings had been made "as early at least 
as the reign of William the Lion." 

In 1225, Pope Honorius III., in consideration 
of their remote locality, and having no metro- 
politan to preside over them, empowered the 
clergy of Scotland to hold national councils, 
without special papal call or presence of a 
legate, " for carrying out the decrees of gen- 
eral councils and other purposes of discipline." 
Such councils were composed of all the bishops, 
abbots and priors, to whom subsequently "were 
added representatives of the capitular, conven- 
tual and collegiate clergy." They met once a 
year, for three days if necessary, and opened 
their sessions with a sermon preached by each 
of the bishops in turn. " One of the bishops 
was chosen for a year as conservator of the 
canons or statutes of the council, with power 
to enforce them. The conservator also sum- 
moned the council, and presided in it, or, in his 
absence, the oldest bishop. Two doctors of the 
civil law attended as representatives of the sov- 
ereign." 1 

In such councils, between 1237 and 1286, a 
code of ecclesiastical canons was drawn up, 

1 Dr. Campbell, St. Giles Lecture. 



SCOTLAND A ROMISH PROVINCE. 191 

whereby the laws of the Church of Scotland 
were made conformable to those of Rome. 

" There were also synods of the clergy 
of each diocese, presided over by their own 
bishop." 1 

In 1267 the papal legate, Ottobon Fiesci, ac- 
credited to England, proposed to carry his 
authority to hold a council thence into Scot- 
land. He was not permitted, apparently, lest 
it might be construed into an admission of de- 
pendency. He then called the Scottish bish- 
ops, with delegates from the lower clergy, to 
meet him at a council in England. Only a few 
were sent, and those few to protest against any 
action affecting Scotland taken by a council in 
England. 2 He further persisted in sending 
them certain acts, which he informed them 
were to be observed by the clergy. But the 
king and the bishops agreed in rejecting them, 
saying that " they would acknowledge no stat- 
utes but such as proceeded from the pope or 
a general council." 

Again, in 1275, another papal legate, Boia- 
mond de Vicci, arrived from Rome with a com- 
mission to estimate the value of benefices, and 
to assess and collect the tenths accordingly. 
He proceeded by calling before him succes- 
sively all the beneficed persons in the king- 
dom, and causing them, upon oath, to state 

1 Dr. Campbell, St. Giles Lecture. 2 Burton, ii. 39. 



192 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the value of the endowments upon which they 
were taxed. The list thus made up served 
for the then present collection, and became 
a law for ecclesiastical taxing until the Refor- 
mation. 1 

1 Burton, ii. 38. 



CHAPTER VII. 

EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 

ON the night of the 12th of March, 1286, 
King Alexander III., riding with a small 
escort along the coast of Fife near Kinghorn, 
was thrown from his horse over a promontory 
and killed. The only surviving member of his 
family was the infant daughter of the deceased 
queen of Norway. A convention of the es- 
tates assembled at Scone and elected a regen- 
cy to govern in her name. It was proposed by 
Edward I., king of England, to form a contract 
of marriage between her and his son Edward ; 
and for that he obtained a dispensation from 
the pope, because the parties were within the 
degrees of kindred prohibited by the canon law. 
The proposal was accepted by the regency, and 
the hope entertained that the peace of the two 
countries, then existing, was to be continued by 
another bond of affinity between their royal 
houses. But all was defeated by a final stroke 
of that fatality which waited upon the family 
of Alexander III. The young queen died at 
Orkney, on her way to Scotland, at the age of 
seven years (1290). 

is 193 



194 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

The lineage of William the Lion was now 
extinct, and the nearest heirs to the throne 
were the descendants of his brother David, 
earl of Huntingdon, youngest son of Henry 
of Northumberland. But David had left no 
sons, and the question of succession was found 
not easy to settle. Several candidates put 
forth their claims. The nearest were two Nor- 
man noblemen, Robert Bruce, son of David's 
second daughter, and John Baliol, grandson 
of his oldest daughter. Lineally considered, 
Baliol was the nearer. But fifty years before, 
Alexander II., 1 while yet without children, had 
provided that, if he died childless, Bruce should 
succeed him, as being then the only male de- 
scendant of his uncle. Bruce was now, in 
1290, a man advanced in years, and meanwhile 
a grandson had been born to Earl David's old- 
est daughter. That grandson was John Baliol. 
Both were sustained by numerous adherents. 
Edward, king of England, was requested to 
act as arbiter, and availed himself of the occa- 
sion to promote the designs of his own ambi- 
tion. His judgment in favor of Baliol was no 
doubt just in itself, but it was given upon con- 
dition that Baliol should acknowledge the king 
of England as lord superior of Scotland, and 
submit to him in all things belonging to that 
relation. In complying with that condition, 

1 Burton, ii. 12. 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCO TO- SAX ON DYNASTY. 195 

however, Baliol did nothing worse than all the 
other nine candidates, Bruce not excepted, 
had professed themselves willing to do. They 
were all of them Normans paternally, having 
no more patriotism than belonged to the place 
of their residence and possessions. Most of 
them had estates also in England, for which 
they paid homage to Edward, and which, of 
course, they were unwilling to forfeit. At the 
same time, it must be said of Bruce that he was 
the head of a family which came into the coun- 
try among the very first of his race, and his 
interests were identified with those of Scot- 
land, while Baliol had still most of his estates 
in France. The collusion between the candi- 
dates and the arbiter was in the interest of 
their common Norman descent. In their de- 
scent from Earl David there was but little 
Scottish blood among them, even from their 
mothers' . side. 

Baliol was crowned on the 30th of Novem- 
ber, 1292. For him it was an unfortunate 
award. Popular detestation of the assumed 
English superiority, together with the jealousy 
of his disappointed rivals, rendered his reign 
very uncomfortable ; and the humiliation of 
having to plead, in cases of appeal from his 
own court, before that of his feudal superior, 
became so grievous that before three years had 
elapsed he yielded to the national demand, and 



I96 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

consented to an alliance with France against 
Edward, and to an invasion of England during 
Edward's French campaign of 1295, and finally 
sent a renunciation of his vassalage. When 
that last step was taken Edward had returned 
from France, and was in Scotland with a laree 
army. Baliol was forthwith deposed and sent 
into England. After a few years he was per- 
mitted to retire to his estates in France. 

The king of England now determined to abol- 
ish the Scottish monarchy and annex the king- 
dom to his own. The oath of allegiance was 
demanded for himself. All the strong places 
of the country were garrisoned with English, 
and upon his return to London, in 1296, he car- 
ried with him, among other valuables, the cele- 
brated Stone of Destiny upon which the kings 
of Scotland were crowned, 1 believing that he 
had reduced Scotland to submission and held 
her fortunes for the future in his hands. 

Bruce, the rival of Baliol, died in 1295. More 
than twenty years before, his son, of the same 
name, in a journey through the west, traveled 
into Carrick. The countess of Carrick, in the 
line of the Celtic lords of Galloway, and widow 
of the earl of Carrick, who perished in the cru- 
sade, was enjoying the pleasures of the chase. 
Accidentally meeting the young knight, whose 

1 This stone is now in the seat of the ehair in Westminster Abbey on 
which the British monarchs are crowned. 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 1 97 

name and lineage were certainly not unknown 
to her, she invited him to join the party. He 
politely declined. The countess, calling her 
attendants, ordered the arrest of the tres- 
passer, and, herself laying hold upon his bri- 
dle, with a gentle violence conducted him a 
prisoner to her castle of Turnberry. The 
captivity proved far from grievous. In course 
of time, certain feudal scruples being overcome, 
the young Robert Bruce became the earl of 
Carrick. His son Robert was accordingly born 
to the same inheritance, and, on his mother's 
side, of the native Scottish race. At the begin- 
ning of the national troubles he was too young 
to take any part in them. His father never 
entered the arena of ambition. 1 

Upon the removal of Baliol the immediate 
candidate for the crown was Comyn of Bade- 
noch, a Norman, who, in addition to his own 
claims, being the near connection of Baliol, in- 
herited also his. But every claim of the kind 
was now set aside by the act of the king of 
England in assuming to govern Scotland as a 
subject province. 

In that lowest depth of the national misfortune, 
though the nobility and their adherents submit- 
ted to what seemed inevitable fate, the com- 
monalty never succumbed. They found a 
fitting leader in one of their own rank, Wil- 

1 Robertson's Scotland, her Early Kings, ii. 109. 



I98 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Ham Wallace, a country gentleman, who, by his 
success and daring and well-planned skirmishes 
with the enemy, soon collected around him a 
large body of followers and formed them into 
an efficient army. Before the end of the year 
1297, Wallace had defeated the English in the 
field, reduced their garrisons and driven their 
forces beyond the border. He was consti- 
tuted guardian of Scotland. 

But the nobility were jealous, and refused to 
act under his authority or to take their orders 
from him in the army. The king of England 
returned in the succeeding summer. Wallace, 
deserted by the men of rank, who ought to 
have sustained him, and by the bodies of 
troops whom they withdrew, was over- 
whelmed by numbers, and the brave rem- 
nant of his forces scattered. Finding that he 
could no longer be of service to his country at 
home, he retired to the Continent, where he en- 
deavored to promote her interest in Paris, and 
perhaps also in Rome. 1 He had already estab- 
lished friendly relations with France through his 
agent, Bishop Lamberton. 

When Wallace withdrew, the guardianship 
was continued in the persons of Comyn of 
Badenoch and John de Soulis ; and, however 
obscure and however oppressed, there was still 
a government which the Scottish people might 

1 Burton, ii. 202-208. 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 1 99 

consider their own. But at the same time Eng- 
lish rule was set up and enforced by English 
troops over the whole land, and to it did the 
nobility again formally submit. 

Subsequently to 1298 active hostilities were 
suspended for a few years by negotiations be- 
tween France and Scotland on one side, and 
England and the Low Countries on the other. 
The Scots were well represented at Paris, and 
also at Rome. Pope Boniface VIII. asserted 
the justice of their cause. In 1298 he sent to 
King Edward a letter of admonition on the 
subject, and soon afterward followed it up with 
a bull charging him with violating the rights 
and liberties of the Church and kingdom of 
Scotland, exposing the erroneous nature of 
his claims, and asserting for Scotland the rank 
of a free monarchy, owing allegiance to the 
Romish see alone. On that ground the pope, 
as pastor of all Christians and arbiter of right 
and wrong among the nations, interposed for 
protection of the injured country. The offend- 
ing king was invited, if he had anything to say 
in defence of himself, to plead his cause before 
the papal court. 1 

The bull was sent to the archbishop of 
Canterbury, who was to put it into the hands 
of the king. But the king was then away in 
the north, concerned with further operations 

1 Baronius (Raynaldi contin.), Luca ed., vol. xxiii. p. 267. 



200 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

against Scotland. The journey after him was 
full of danger and made with long delays, and 
before the archbishop could reach Carlisle the 
king had already entered Scotland at the head 
of another destructive invasion. When, final- 
ly, the papal epistle reached its destination, 
still greater delay was created by the king's 
preparation of his plea, in which he employed 
many assistants, and which was designed per- 
haps to excite the feelings of Englishmen 
against Romish aggression, more than to sat- 
isfy the pope, whose right to interfere was de- 
nied. The plea finally constructed was of the 
most extraordinary description, tracing the Eng- 
lish monarchy in its growth from the days of 
Eli and Samuel, when it was founded by a cer- 
tain Brutus, who came from Troy, and, taking 
possession of Britain, forthwith divided it among 
his three sons, giving England to Locrin, the old- 
est, Scotland to Albanac, and Wales to Cam- 
ber. It was also stated that the invariable 
practice in Troy was that the oldest son and 
his descendants should rule the younger and 
their descendants ; and that, farther down in 
the history, the great King Arthur appointed 
one of his followers, called Anselm, to rule over 
Scotland ; and for that, Anselm did feudal hom- 
age to Arthur as his lord superior. Upon this 
learned foundation the royal defendant built 
his argument up to the point on which he him- 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 201 

self stood, and sent it to Rome in May, 1301, 
when he was mustering men and material for 
another invasion of the country in question. 1 

The papal admonition effected nothing to- 
ward restraining ao-orression, but it fortified 
the Scottish clergy and people in the right- 
eousness of their cause. The highest author- 
ity under heaven, as they conceived, had spo- 
ken in its defence. Thus encouraged, the 
nation put forth its best efforts for the preser- 
vation of its life, and to expose at home and 
abroad the injustice of the English pretension. 
Wallace also, it appears, returned from the 
Continent, and animated as far as lay in his 
power the resistance to oppression. 2 

Within the same years Philip of France, as 
well as Edward, fell under censure of the pope, 
and succeeded in setting at naught the papal 
admonitions. Finally, the better to facilitate 
the progress of their negotiations with each 
other, the two great kin^s abandoned their 
respective allies. 

Edward, thus relieved from his embarrass- 
ments on the Continent, resolved to extinguish 
for ever the spirit of Scottish independence. 
In the spring of 1303 he led the largest and 
best equipped army he ever mustered in a 
third campaign to the north. He swept almost 
the whole length of the land. All opposition 

1 Burton, ii. 208-214. 2 Knight, xxvii. 



202 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

seemed to be put down before him. The 
guardians submitted. In their stead he created 
a new government. There was now to be but 
one king and one great council for the whole 
island. Scotland was to be ruled by a lieuten- 
ant and council appointed by the Crown. All 
the subordinate departments were accordingly 
organized anew. 1 

The guardians and others concerned in op- 
position to his former arrangements, the victor, 
in the good humor of success, punished lightly, 
but made an exception of Wallace. The pop- 
ular hero, now betrayed into the hands of his 
enemy, was carried to London, and on the 23d 
of August, 1305, put to death with inexcusable 
barbarity. 

John of Bretagne entered upon his admin- 
istration as lieutenant, and to appearance Scot- 
tish independence was extinguished. But the 
long-continued war had added bitterness to 
patriotic persistency in the Scottish mind, and 
engendered a degree of hatred to everything 
English, which had not existed before. Later 
severities had also enlisted that part of the 
Norman population who now inherited the 
feelings of Scotsmen, and Comyn of Badenoch 
was looked to by them as the national leader. 
But a truer and more national leader than he 
—one who really united in himself the Nor- 

1 Burton, ii. 229-231. 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 203 

man and Celtic elements of the nation — ap- 
peared at that juncture. 

Robert Bruce, son of the Countess Margery 
of Carrick, and on his father's death (in 1305) 
earl of Carrick, and grandson of the rival 
of Baliol for the throne, was then living 
in favor with the English king. One day 
early in the month of February, 1306, it was 
remarked that he had disappeared from court. 
A few days later he presented himself in the 
neighborhood of his paternal estates in Dum- 
friesshire. 1 Falling in with Comyn in the church 
of the Minorites at Dumfries, an altercation en- 
sued, in which he stabbed Comyn with his dag- 
ger — an act followed up by one of his attendants, 
Kirkpatrick, with more fatal wounds. For that 
act, perpetrated in a church, whereby sacrilege 
was added to murder, Bruce was soon absolved 
by Wiseheart, bishop of Glasgow ; but papal 
excommunication followed, and papal indigna- 
tion continued many years to be leveled against 
him. 2 On the 27th of March he was crowned 
at Scone. But misfortune attended his first 
enterprise in arms. Among the western moun- 
tains and islands he found hiding-places, and on 
the lonely isle of Rathlin, off the coast of Ire- 
land, spent most of the succeeding winter. With 
the spring he once more appeared in the field. 

The escape of Bruce, the enthusiasm awak- 

1 Lingard, iii. 275. 2 Ecc. Chron. of Scot., ii. 486. 



204 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ened by his appearance in Scotland and his 
coronation, provoked the king of England to 
the utmost. Although now old and feeble, 
he resolutely pushed forward with the alacrity 
of youth preparations for a fourth campaign 
against Scotland, designed to take vengeance 
for the death of Comyn. Putting his son Ed- 
ward, prince of Wales, at its head, he followed 
on as the infirmities of disease permitted, but 
lived only to come in sight of Scotland, and 
died at Burgh-on-the-Sands, July 7, 1307. His 
successor, Edward II., was actuated by less pas- 
sion. After proceeding a few marches farther, 
and finding no army to encounter, he returned 
to England. 

Another incursion of the same kind followed 
three years afterward, and a third next year, 
with the same result. Still, it was the purpose 
of the English king to maintain his dominion in 
Scotland. John of Bretagne was succeeded as 
royal lieutenant by Aymer de Valence, earl of 
Pembroke, and he by others. But one garrison 
after another was falling, while the strength of 
the resistance continually increased. 

With prudence and cautious enterprise Bruce 
pursued his advantages, defeating hostile High- 
land chieftains, driving English troops out of 
Scottish strongholds, and retaliating invasion 
upon the land of his enemy. In the spring 
of 1 314 his brother, Edward Bruce, besieging 



EXTINCTION OF THE SCOTO-SAXON DYNASTY. 205 

Stirling, pressed the garrison to the condition 
of surrender if not relieved by the 24th of 
June. A large and magnificently equipped 
English army crossed the border a week be- 
fore that date. Should it succeed in relieving 
Stirling, it would then be in condition to go 
anywhere over Scotland and undo all Bruce's 
work of years. Such was the stake for which 
the battle was fought, in sight of Stirling Cas- 
tle, at Bannockburn on the 24th of June, 13 14. 
The English forces were driven from the coun- 
try. The independence of Scotland was secured, 
with a native monarch once more seated on her 
throne — a monarch not of pure Celtic blood, 
but representing in his own person all the 
three great ethnic stocks, Celtic, Saxon and 
Norman, to which by that time her popula- 
tion also belonged. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SCOTLAND'S RELATIONS TO THE PAPACY D UR LAG 
THE WAR. 

THESE events occurred when the papacy 
was at the summit of its strength. Mal- 
colm Canmore was contemporary with Hilde- 
brand, Pope Gregory VII. ; William the Lion 
with, Innocent III.; the Scottish war of inde- 
pendence began in the pontificate of Boniface 
VIII. ; and the coronation of Bruce took place 
in the year after the removal from Rome to 
Avignon — the beginning of papal decline. 

The subjugation and annexation of the Brit- 
ish churches in Scotland, Ireland and Wales 
added to the glory of the papacy when in its 
prime. Through all that period, until the death 
of Boniface, the popes treated Scotland with 
favor, pursuing a policy designed to attach the 
nation to their cause. Recognizing her as a 
monarchy owing ecclesiastical allegiance imme- 
diately to Rome, they assumed to be her pro- 
tectors from English aggression. Upon the 
coronation of Alexander III., Henry II. of Eng- 
land applied to Innocent IV. to forbid the sacred 

206 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 207 

sanction of anointing, but received in reply a 
courteous refusal. Yet so little had previous 
popes to do with the inauguration of Scottish 
kings that anointing was a new ceremony on 
that occasion. Nor was it then thought in 
Scotland to be essential, nor that the omis- 
sion of it could in any degree invalidate the 
solemnity. King Robert Bruce was not held 
to be the less a king that no papal legate had 
poured upon his head the consecrated oil. 

When Alexander III. died the country had 
enjoyed a long period of tranquillity. For 
border raids ordinarily disturbed only the bor- 
der counties, and the expedition of Hakon was 
a hasty dash which ravaged the western coasts, 
but did no lasting injury. In the course of 
that long peace the nation made great prog- 
ress in the culture of the soil, a matter in which 
some houses of monks set a good example, as 
well as in the practice of various industrial arts 
and in commerce. All the monasteries were 
seats of education as far as pertained to their 
own pursuits. In them were the schools for 
the clergy. No university was yet established 
in the land. But for Scottish youth, desirous of 
pursuing their studies to greater length than 
the monastery course, Balliol College was 
founded at Oxford, about the middle of the 
reign of Alexander III. (1268), by the Lady 
Devorgill of Galloway. In many of the towns 



208 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

also there were schools for secular education, 
some of which attained an honorable reputa- 
tion. Nor had the old habits of popular relig- 
ious instruction by the Scottish clergy been 
abandoned. Wealth had accumulated, and 
seems to have been more equably distributed 
than in England, or perhaps in any other coun- 
try at that time. The workers of the soil were 
intelligent and comfortably provided for. From 
the beginning of the war of independence, the 
common people were well acquainted with the 
interests at stake, and had their own judgments 
about them, unbiased by those of either the no- 
bility or the hierarchy. It was in the latter half 
of the thirteenth century that the Roman Cath- 
olic Church enjoyed the fullest confidence of 
the people of Scotland, and seems to have de- 
served it. 

, In the arbitration, the prelates, at first, took 
part with King Edward. Neither they nor the 
nobles made any opposition to his claim of 
being overlord. From the commons, however, 
a response was made which he disliked and 
withheld from publication. Denial of his right 
or some remonstrance against it came first 
from them. The Norman leaders, both lay 
and ecclesiastic, were willing to submit. Many 
of them were liegemen of Edward for part of 
their estates and honors, and might as well be 
for all. Such, at least, seems to have been 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 20$ 

their common feeling- at first. FrazeT, bishop 
of St. Andrews, being of a Norman family, 
attached himself to the cause of Baliol, which 
at his coronation was that of Edward, and 
when Baliol was dethroned, went abroad in 
his interest, and died there. 

The native Scottish clergy were opposed to 
the English pretensions entirely, and in that 
agreed with their people. With a view to ex- 
tinguish that influence, working so steadily and 
powerfully against him, Edward resolved to fill 
all vacancies, among the parochial and other 
lower places in the Church, with Englishmen. 
In 1297 he sent orders to his lieutenant, Fitz- 
Allan, to that effect. The prelates could not 
fail to foresee that, in the prosecution of such a 
policy, their order must become alienated from 
the people — must forfeit the popular confi- 
dence, and be viewed, by those whom it was 
their office to guide in spiritual things, as a 
mere political agency of a foreign power de- 
signed to oppress them. Prelatic places, it is 
true, had at an earlier time been created and 
filled with foreigners, but that had been the 
work of Scottish kings ; and those dignitaries 
did not come into immediate contact with the 
common people, but sought their security in 
conciliation of the native working clergy, which, 
in the main, they seemed to have effected. 
But now the breaking of that link between 

14 



210 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the prelates and the people threatened a dan- 
ger to the whole structure. 

A change took place next year, when Wil- 
liam Lamberton came to the see of St. An- 
drews, if his coming to it was not a fruit of 
the change, in the uprising of the commonalty. 
He was indebted for his promotion greatly to 
the influence of William Wallace. And the 
rise of Wallace was the rise of the common 
people. His victories were their protest, their 
declaration of independence, which made itself 
heard and respected. From that date the 
higher clergy as well as the lower stood by 
the national cause. 

Lamberton's first years in office were spent 
abroad, and Wallace, after his withdrawal from 
the guardianship, appears to have joined him 
in representing the cause of their country at 
Paris, and probably also at Rome. He cer- 
tainly got credentials from King Philip to the 
French " representatives at the court of Rome, 
recommending to them his good friend Wil- 
liam le Walois, of Scotland, knight, and desir- 
ing them to do what in them lay to expedite 
the business he had to transact at the court of 
Rome." 1 But Scotland had also her publicly 
commissioned servants there, among whom was 
William, archdeacon of Lothian, and her inter- 
ests were well attended to. The papal officers 

1 Burton, ii. 202. 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 211 

concerned evinced a thorough acquaintance 
with the state of the case for Scotland as op- 
posed to the pretensions of the king of Eng- 
land. 1 The papal admonitions, as already men- 
tioned, received little honor from him to whom 
they were addressed, but they proved of the 
utmost import in reanimating the confidence 
of the oppressed people, and determining and 
uniting the policy of the Scottish clergy. The 
unhesitating decision of Pope Boniface VIII. 
gave assurance to both lay and ecclesiastic in 
the holiness of the national cause. To its in- 
terests the prelates thence onward remained 
sincerely attached to the end — sincerely, but 
not all of them with consistent profession. 
Some of the bishops and others in conspicu- 
ous places bent readily before the storm of 
invasion, and rose erect when it had passed. 
On their part, as well as on that of many lay- 
men, there were frequent alternations of alle- 
giance — taking the oath to Edward when he 
came, and breaking it when he went away. 
Bishop Lamberton himself thus changed sides 
five times. Wiseheart of Glasgow took the 
oath six times, violating it in every interval, 
and at last went off to assist Bruce with all 
his might. The war of independence was a 
long and heroic contest, but was not promo- 
tive of religion or morality. 

1 Raynaldus, contin. of Baronius, vol. xxiii., p. 267, Luca ed, 



212 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

It was Lamberton and Wiseheart, with Da- 
vid, bishop of Moray, who presided at the cor- 
onation of Robert Bruce. The ceremony was 
completed by the countess Matilda of Buchan, 
in place of her brother, chief of the clan M'Duff, 
then in an English prison, whose hereditary 
duty it was to place the crown upon the king's 
head. For that act Lamberton and Wiseheart 
were confined to prison, from which they were 
released upon Edward's death. For the coun- 
tess a cage was prepared in the castle of Ber- 
wick, in which she was confined four years. At 
the end of that time she was removed to less 
severe confinement, for three years more, in 
the Carmelite convent of Berwick. Nigel, a 
younger brother of the Bruce, and some of his 
adherents were taken by the usurper and exe- 
cuted. 1 The part acted by the pope until the 
arrival of Bruce did much to fortify the influ- 
ence of his office among Scotsmen, and in- 
spired them with a higher degree of venera- 
tion for his person. 

The war of independence lasted long, and 
ere it closed a change had passed upon the 
spirit of both parties in it, as well as upon the 
condition of the papacy. Edward II., after his 
rout at Bannockburn, was no doubt earnestly 
desirous of peace, but refused to recognize the 
national independence of Scotland, or to treat 

1 Lingard, Hist, of England, iii. 280. 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 21 3 

the king whom she had crowned with the honor 
due to his rank. Bruce proposed a final settle- 
ment of peace, but when he found Edward re- 
solved to refuse him the title which acknowl- 
edged the independence of his country, he 
broke off the negotiations. The warfare 
changed into repeated invasions of England, 
not for conquest, but to compel a recogni- 
tion of Scottish independence. 

The papal residence was now at Avignon in 
France, to which it had been removed, by con- 
straint of Philip the Fair, in 1305, and Scotland 
had for some time no representative there. 
Lamberton was in his old age, and devoting 
his remaining strength to the interests of the 
Church at home, especially in repairing the 
injuries which church property had suffered in 
the war, and in completing his cathedral of St. 
Andrews. He also built many new churches 
and episcopal residences in various places. At 
the consecration of the completed cathedral, 
July 5, 1 318, King Robert was present, and 
added an endowment of one hundred marks 
annually out of gratitude " for the illustrious 
victory which St. Andrew had afforded him at 
Bannockburn." Lamberton continued, never- 
theless, to take part in the efforts for securing 
peace with England. He died in 1328. 1 Be 
fore that date his country had again been well 

1 Ecclesiastical Chronicle of Scotland, i. 1 86. 



214 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

represented at the papal court, and was recov- 
ering favor there. 

The Scottish king was under excommunica- 
tion for sacrilege, in having slain Comyn in a 
church. Interest was also made at the papal 
court to procure the issuing of denunciatory 
writs against the people who had rejected Eng- 
lish rule, and persisted in so doing under a sac- 
rilegious leader. But the people stood inflexibly 
by their beloved king, and paid no respect to any 
measure designed to degrade him. The national 
clergy of every rank, being now of the same mind, 
would not put the papal mandates in force. 

The population of Scotland had been both 
sifted and welded in the course of the war. 
" The first note of contest banished every 
English priest, monk and friar from the 
northern realm," and its termination was 
followed by the departure of the great Anglo- 
Norman lords who held possessions in both 
kingdoms ; x while all who felt their interests 
identified with the country, and their affections 
enlisted in it, whether of British, Scottish, Sax- 
on or Norman descent, were fused into one 
nationality. Under the effects of a law passed 
during the war (131 8), as well as from the ne- 
cessities of the case, owners of property in both 
countries had to part with their estates in one 
or the other. 2 So we lose sight of the distinc- 

1 Quarterly Rev., June, 1849, p. 138. 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 21 5 

tions Pict, Scot, Norse, Saxon, Briton and Nor- 
man, except in family genealogies. A common 
love of the land of their birth, which they had 
unitedly defended from oppression under a 
leader whom they all admired, himself both 
Celt and Teuton, and by exploits in war of 
which they all were proud, had resulted in 
making them all alike Scotsmen, bound to- 
gether in a bond of enthusiastic patriotism 
and mutual respect. Only one remnant of 
ethnic division held its place in the difference 
between Highlanders and Lowlanders, which 
continues to this day. 

Papal opposition turned against Scotland at 
that period, chiefly between 1306 and 1324. 
Although, by the patriotism of the native cler- 
gy, of little or no inconvenience at home, it was 
a serious obstacle in the way of all dealings 
with foreign nations. In France and the 
Netherlands it was suffered to interfere very 
little with business ; but elsewhere the English 
government made use of it to injure commerce, 
and procure denial of respectful treatment for 
those whom they everywhere held up as an 
excommunicated people, the followers of a 
sacrilegious and excommunicated leader. 

A full end to the war was not reached until 
the acknowledgment of independence was se- 
cured. Scotsmen and their king alike knew 
that there would be serious loss in stopping 



2l6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

short of that. They must vindicate their stand- 
ing among nations, and leave no ground for a 
future usurper to build upon. And now the 
pope, as well as the king of England, had to 
be persuaded. 

As Edward II. refused to treat with them on 
the footing of national equality, they continued 
the war by invading his kingdom. His north- 
ern counties were laid waste year after year, 
while he was utterly unable to protect them. 
The pope was persuaded to interfere. He is- 
sued a bull of peace, ordering both sides to 
cease from fighting for two years. It was 
addressed to " our dearest son in Christ, the 
illustrious Edward, king of England, and our 
beloved son, the noble Robert de Bruce, con- 
ducting himself as king of Scotland." Two 
cardinals also arrived in England in the au- 
tumn of that year (13 17). Both kingdoms 
were concerned in the business they came to 
transact. Into Scotland they did not go them- 
selves, but sent two messengers, who, as they 
were not permitted to address Bruce with the 
title of king, could accomplish nothing. Their 
visit proved valuable only to history by the 
account which they wrote of the popular feel- 
ing on the question of the time. A sealed 
despatch was presented by them, addressed 
to Robert Bruce, governing in Scotland. The 
king declined to open it, except by consent of 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 21/ 

Parliament, but that could not be immediately 
obtained. He was not the only Robert Bruce 
who might have something to do in the govern- 
ment of the country. For his own part, he was 
king. He also refused to comply with their de- 
mand to lay down his arms until his own rank, 
and therein the independence of his kingdom, 
was fully recognized. The messengers, more- 
over, as the result of their own observations, 
reported their opinion that, even if the king had 
been willing to waive the informality, the Parlia- 
ment would not have consented. 

A daring monk, Adam Newton, undertook to 
publish the bull in Scotland. He found the king 
preparing for the siege of Berwick, and his suc- 
cess proving no better than that of the messen- 
gers, he applied for permission to go among the 
Scottish clergy and execute his mission. That 
was not granted. The feelings of the clergy 
were well known to be so fully enlisted in the 
national cause that no papal writ adverse to its 
interest could be legally served in the land. 
The monk then requested to be sent back to 
Berwick under a safe-conduct. But that could 
not be done, for he had seen the preparations 
for the siege. In trying to find his way back 
by himself he fell among robbers, and all his 
documents were taken from him. 1 

Papal fulminations against Scotland were fre- 

1 Burton, ii. 277, 278; Lingard, iii. 314-316. 



2l8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

quent in those days. A new bull, adding to 
previous offences the indignity done to the 
papal messengers, was sent to the cardinals 
with urgent instructions to enforce it, with 
" the personal excommunication of Bruce." \ 
But that mandate also, through the faithful 
patriotism of the national clergy, was found 
impracticable. 

The war with England went on. Berwick 
was taken. The English tried to retake it, but 
could not. Raids into England were repeated 
with desolating effect. The papal peace was 
not regarded. Many people in the northern 
counties of England began to think seriously 
of breaking away from their relations with a 
government which failed to protect them, and 
of seeking a connection with the northern king- 
dom. It seemed high time that such warfare 
should come to an end. A truce of two years 
was agreed upon between the parties, in hope 
that it might lead to a satisfactory settlement. 
It began on 21st of December, 1319. 

The Scots also took occasion to renew their 
dutiful relations to the pope. For, although his 
repeated denunciations had hitherto done them 
no harm at home, the attitude in which they 
were put by the head of the Church was not a 
desirable one in those days, and might, on occa- 
sion of adversity, be calamitous. It prevented 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR, 219 

other states from extending to them the ordi- 
nary international courtesies and privileges. In 
a Parliament held at Arbroath in April, 1320, a 
solemn address to the pope was adopted explan- 
atory of the wrongs under which they had suf- 
fered and the reasonableness of their present 
demands. In the most respectful terms the 
state of the case was clearly and forcibly laid 
before His Holiness, who was brought to ad- 
monish and exhort the king of England to suf- 
fer the Scots to live at peace under their own 
government, " in their own remote and obscure 
corner of the world." On their part they ex- 
pressed their willingness to agree with the king 
of England in everything necessary to procure 
peace, as far as not compromising their own 
nationality. Although the document is not in 
the name of any ecclesiastic, but purely of lay- 
men, " the barons, free tenants and whole com- 
munity of Scotland," it expresses entire and 
cordial allegiance to the papal see. 1 

The statement had some effect. Denuncia- 
tions ceased, though those issued were not 
forthwith revoked. An admonitory bull was 
addressed to the king of England in July of 
the same year. But the result of negotiations 
was not what Scotland demanded, and when 
the truce expired the war recommenced. Ed- 
ward, having settled certain domestic troubles, 

1 Burton, ii. 283-287. 



220 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

conceived himself now in condition to humble 
this obstinate people. In August, 1322, he led a 
numerous army across the border, and marched 
northward as far as the firth of Forth. But it 
was through a wilderness. The people had de- 
serted their humble homes, carried off all their 
goods, driven away their cattle and betaken 
themselves to the mountains. The invaders 
were defeated by absolute famine. On their 
retreat the Scottish army appeared in their 
rear, pursuing and harassing them far into 
their own country. 

Edward was again constrained to negotiate. 
A truce for thirteen years was agreed upon at 
Berwick on June 7, 1323. Bruce was allowed 
to take the title of king, but Edward would not 
give it. This was not satisfactory, but was ac- 
cepted for the time being. 

In order to a better result the head of the 
Church must be propitiated. It was in the 
pontificate of John XXII. King Robert de- 
spatched his nephew, Randolph, earl of Moray, 
to Avignon to plead his cause with the pope. 
Randolph conducted his embassy with delicacy 
and judgment. In January of the next year 
the pope wrote a long letter to the king of 
England, explaining how, by conversation with 
the Scottish nobleman, his knowledge of the 
case had been enlarged, and that he had con- 
sented to address future " letters to Bruce by 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 221 

the title of king," recommending also to Ed- 
ward the desirableness of peace between the 
two countries. Edward's reply was an angry 
remonstrance. But Randolph, having secured 
the favor of the pope, had also, before return- 
ing home, effected a highly important treaty 
with France. 

When Edward III. in 1327 succeeded his 
father on the throne, he undertook to repel 
the Scots, who, seeing nothing done toward 
the establishment of a permanent peace, had 
renewed the war. For that purpose he led a 
large and expensive army to the north. But 
the inexperienced lad, who was afterward to be 
hero of Creci, was as nothing in the hands of 
Douglas and Randolph, men in the prime of 
life and of military experience. They beguiled 
him from place to place, reduced his army 
without fighting a battle, and then marched 
away home, leaving him to disband his discom- 
fited host in a singularly mortifying way. 

Anything was better than this. To be de- 
feated so often was bad enough, but to be 
made sport of in the field, and worried into 
disaster by the mere strategy of their enemies, 
and under their ridicule, was unendurable. 
Better admit their titles, and for trial of prow- 
ess await a more propitious time. An Eng- 
lish Parliament was held at York in January 
of the next year to consider the question. Its 



222 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

action was followed by a treaty concluded at 
Edinburgh March 1 7, and ratified by the Par- 
liament of England at Northampton in April, 
yielding Scottish recognition in its full extent. 
"All documents in possession of the king of 
England containing stipulations inconsistent 
with the independence of Scotland were de- 
clared void," and were to be given up to the 
king of Scots. The king of England was to 
use his good services in the withdrawal of all 
proceedings in the papal court prejudicial to 
King Robert or his dominion. The Scots were 
not to aid the Irish in case they should rebel, 
nor were the English to aid the inhabitants of 
the Scottish islands in rebellion against the 
king of Scots ; and Scotland was to pay twen- 
ty thousand pounds, apparently for losses in- 
flicted in the late raids upon England. 1 

The work of the Bruce was at last complete. 
His native land, rescued from oppression, her 
internal order regulated by many wise enact- 
ments, her population united and her character 
fortified in self-reliance by long-continued disci- 
pline and success — so firmly united as to stand 
unshaken even under excommunication and re- 
peated papal denunciations — and with her in- 
dependent sovereignty fully recognized, had 
closed her protracted struggle successfully. 

King Robert, reconciled with the Church of 

1 Burton, ii. 303, 304. 



RELATIONS TO PAPACY DURING THE WAR. 223 

Rome five years before his death, beheld also 
the re-establishing- of entire concord between 
the papacy and the church authorities of his 
kingdom. It was also his wish to lead or take 
part in a crusade for the Christian cause against 
the Saracen. But his labors had been so per- 
sistently demanded by affairs at home that he 
had never been free to undertake the foreign 
enterprise. And before the treaty of North- 
ampton had given him release he was already 
broken in health by the inroads of an incurable 
disease. He died at Cardross, near Dumbar- 
ton, on the 7th of June, 1329. Lord James of 
Douglas, one of his most faithful and trusted 
companions-in-arms, and doubtless designed to 
be one of his knights in the crusade, actually 
undertook it with a few brave followers the 
next year. The king's heart, according to his 
own request, was carried with them in a silver 
casket. The papal bull of absolution " for ex- 
tracting the heart from the body " and its re- 
moval by Douglas, in terms of his master's 
injunction, declares the purpose "that it might 
be borne in war against the Saracens " in Spain. 
The crusades in Palestine had come to an end. 
In the service of Alphonso, king of Leon and 
Castile, at war with Osmyn of Granada, the 
crusader chose the lists in which to consecrate 
his latest heroism. In a certain battle, when 
the Christians were hard pressed and threat- 



224 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ened with defeat, he threw the casket into the 
midst of the enemy, shouting, " Onward as thou 
wert wont, thou noble heart ! Douglas will 
follow thee." Victory must have driven the 
enemy from the field. For it is added that the 
body of Douglas was found, and with it the 
casket. Both were taken home, Lord James 
to be consigned to the resting-place of his 
fathers ; the heart of the Bruce to sacred keep- 
ing in Melrose Abbey. 1 

1 Burton, ii. 308; Weiner, Vetera Monumenta, 251. 



CHAPTER IX. 

PAPAL RELATIONS OF SCOTLAND UNDER RESTORED 
INDEPENDENCE. 

SCARCELY was King Robert laid in the 
grave when the Norman nobility of Eng- 
land, who had formerly held lands in Scotland 
and had lost them in the war, made a push for 
their recovery. First, they attempted to gain 
their lost estates by civil process, but it soon 
appeared that nothing could be done in that 
way. The claimants then resolved to unite 
their interests with those of Edward, son of 
John Baliol, who now pretended to the throne 
of Scotland. Like themselves, he was perfectly 
willing to accept the king of England as lord 
superior. And why not? None of them were 
really Scotsmen. The circumstances were of 
fortune. Scotland was at peace, relying upon 
the settlement of Northampton, and her king- 
was a child. Randolph, the regent, had just 
died (July, 1332), and his place was occupied 
by an inferior mind, Duncan, earl of Mar. 
The adventurers, putting Edward Baliol at 
their head and raising a small army, took 



15 



225 



226 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ship and landed on the coast of Fife. For- 
tunate enough to overcome the Scottish forces 
under command of the regent, who was slain 
in the battle, they forthwith hastened to take 
the city of Perth, and repelled another Scottish 
force which pursued them. Among the Scots 
they found friends — men of their own class — 
ready to be Scots or English as served their 
interests best. Confident in victory, they 
crowned their leader (Sept. 24, 1332), and 
went on to organfze a new government under 
the feudal superiority of England. 

Meanwhile, Edward III. of England brought 
his army to the north and called a Parliament 
at York. The question proposed was, What 
degree of subordination should now be en- 
forced upon Scotland ? While Parliament 
was debating the two Edwards made a se- 
cret compact of their own, whereby Scotland 
was to become a fief of the English crown ; 
and each bound himself to aid the other "with 
all his power against every domestic enemy." 
And these conditions were " to have been rati- 
fied by their respective Parliaments." 

But meanwhile the new regent of Scotland, 
Andrew Murray, one of the heroes of the lib- 
eration army in the days of King Robert, took 
expeditious and effective means to rally the 
nation to its allegiance. In a few weeks the 
stunning effect of the surprise had passed over. 



PAPAL RELATIONS UNDER INDEPENDENCE. 227 

The Scottish army was organized anew. Baliol, 
in Annandale, was receiving the submission of 
the nobility in the south, and through secret 
agents concocting his treaty with the king of 
England. Archibald Douglas, a brother of 
the deceased Lord James, at the head of a 
Scottish force fell upon his army in the night, 
and threw it into confusion and rout. Baliol 
leaped from his bed half naked, mounted a 
horse without a saddle, and fled full speed by 
the nearest way across the border into England 
(Dec. 1 6, 1332). His enterprise had lasted in 
all about four months. It began like a flash of 
lightning, and ended like a bubble. 1 

The Scots followed up their advantage by a 
raid into England, which gave occasion to the 
English to charge them with violating the treaty 
of Northampton. King Edward retaliated by 
openly supporting Baliol with a strong force, 
laying siege to Berwick and putting the pre- 
tender in command. The Scots, in attempting 
to protect the place, suffered the disastrous de- 
feat of Halidon Hill (1333). Baliol was again 
set up as king, of course only as a vassal of 
Edward III., to whom he also ceded all of the 
kingdom south of the Forth and east of a line 
from Linlithgow to Dumfries ; that is, the Sax- 
on part of the south. Loyal Scotsmen were en- 
raged and adhered the more zealously to their 

1 Buchanan, b. ix., king 99th; Burton, ii. 316. 



228 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

national cause. Upon the death of Murray a 
new regent was appointed, and again, through 
a long course of internal war, the foreign inter- 
est lost ground. Baliol could feel safe only in 
the lands he had ceded to England, as long as 
they were held by English troops. When the 
ambition of Edward III. found a more promis- 
ing field in France (1338), Baliol abandoned 
Scotland, never to return (1339). In 1341 the 
heir of the Bruce, David II., returned from 
France, whither he had been taken for his 
education, and although only seventeen years 
of age assumed the government. 

Subsequently, the matured military skill of 
Edward III. and of his brilliant son, the Black 
Prince, which otherwise might have overpow- 
ered Scotland, was occupied with long-pro- 
tracted wars in France, in which Scotland was 
concerned only by the conditions of her treaty 
with the latter country. An invasion of Eng- 
land, undertaken in that cause in 1346, when 
Edward was in France, was defeated at the 
battle of Neville's Cross, in which David II. 
was taken prisoner. With some of his nobles 
he was carried to London and committed to the 
Tower. Again the government of his king- 
dom was administered by the abler hands of 
the regent steward. A truce made by Ed- 
ward with France included Scotland, and con- 
tinued by renewals until 1354. 



PAPAL RELATIONS UNDER INDEPENDENCE. 229 

David was ransomed, and returned to his 
throne in 1357. His reign was feeble and 
unpatriotic, and failed of doing permanent 
harm only because in his long absences the 
wise and moderate steward filled his place, 
and when he was at home the estates held a 
firm check upon his designs, which seem to have 
been far from obstinate. When he died (Feb. 
22, 1370) Robert Allan, or Fitz Allan, his sis- 
ter's son, and high steward of Scotland, suc- 
ceeded, according to the arrangement made by 
king and Parliament more than fifty years be- 
fore. So long had the office of steward been 
retained in his family that its title had become 
his surname, and so well had he exercised the 
powers of royalty as regent that nothing save 
the title and honors of king- remained to be 
added to what he had already worn. 

The reign of Robert II., first of the Stewart 
dynasty, corresponded with the last seven years 
of the reign of Edward III. and those of Rich- 
ard II. to 1390. It was followed by that of his 
son John, which continued until 1406. But 
such was the disfavor in which the name John 
was held, from hatred to the elder Baliol, that 
John Stewart at his coronation took the name 
of his father and great-grandfather, and counts 
as Robert III. on the list of Scottish kings. 

It was from the reign of Robert Bruce, and 
through those of his son and grandson, that 



23O THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the sentiments and customs of chivalry entered 
most deeply into the character of English and 
Scottish warfare, as depicted by Froissart and 
illustrated by the adventures of Douglas and 
Randolph, of Edward III. and the Black Prince, 
in the earlier part of the period, and of the 
Douglases and Percys toward the end of it. 

The records of the Roman Catholic Church 
in Scotland during these reigns are of no spir- 
itual import whatever. Concerned solely with 
successions of ecclesiastical dignitaries, with 
facts of their temporal interests, their ambi- 
tions, jealousies, quarrels, honors, revenues, 
scarcely can an allusion to the state of relig- 
ion be gathered from their pages. We read 
of bishops building cathedrals and managing 
affairs of state, but rarely of preaching the gos- 
pel. 1 Of the parish work no mention is made 
at all. 

For England, the last two-thirds of the four- 
teenth century was a period of great distinc- 
tion, from her victories in France and Spain, 
but still more from the rise of her native liter- 
ature, and the dawn of the Reformation in re- 
ligion. It was the time of Chaucer and Wyc- 
liff. In Scotland there was a similar literary 
progress. It had been preceded by the learn- 
ing of Michael Scot, of Thomas of Ercildoun 
and John of Dunse, the last of whom died in 

1 Ecc. Chron. in the fourteenth century. 



PAPAL RELATIONS UNDER INDEPENDENCE. 23 1 

1 308. John Barbour, author of the celebrated 
poem on the adventures of the Bruce, and John 
of Fordun, earliest of the general historians 
of Scotland, lived at the same time with Chau- 
cer and Wycliff. Barbour and Fordun, how- 
ever, unlike their English contemporaries, seem 
to have entertained no disposition toward a re- 
ligious reformation. 

From causes already recounted, papal au- 
thority, declining in some other quarters, in the 
fourteenth century, increased in Scotland. To 
counteract the intrusion of England the king 
and the higher clergy favored immediate rela- 
tions with Rome. The papal animosity, from 
1306 to 1324, was a perfectly rational exception 
on both sides. Bruce had been guilty of what 
the Church could not regard as other than a 
crime of the highest magnitude. A right-mind- 
ed pope could not fail to brand it with the se- 
verest censure, nor to continue what penalty 
his office was capable of inflicting, as long as 
it was unabsolved. Aggravating misrepresen- 
tations, made persistently by the king of England 
touching the whole Scottish nation, prolonged 
untruthfully that state of the case, and must 
have justified the popes of those years in their 
own eyes while keeping the ban upon the fol- 
lowers of a sacrilegious chief. On the other 
hand, the king and people of Scotland, involved 
in a struggle for existence, the desperate pit- 



232 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND, 

ting of the skill and endurance of a few against 
surpassing numbers of equal valor and some- 
times not inferior skill, left no breathing-time 
for explanations. Before time could be given 
to satisfy the censor of the true state of the 
case, life must be secured. Every man compe- 
tent to such negotiation was needed at home. 
As soon as such a man could be spared he was 
delegated, in the person of Thomas Randolph, 
to counteract the slanders accumulated at the 
papal court. The subsequent rescripts of John 
XXII. testified to his restored favor. To the 
same pontiff King Robert Bruce, in his last 
illness, sent messengers to request " that the 
bishop of St. Andrews, who had been in use 
to invest the Scottish kings with the ensigns 
of royalty, might thenceforth be authorized by 
the pope to crown and anoint them." The re- 
quest was granted, and, in 1 331, David Bruce 
was the first Scottish sovereign crowned with 
papal solemnities. 1 

The bull of John XXII. granting to Bishop 
Bane and his successors in St. Andrews the 
right to anoint the kings of Scotland, orders 
also that at their coronation the kings shall 
take their " corporal oath that they will bona 
fide study to exterminate from their kingdom, 
and all other places subject to their authority, 
all such heretics as are denounced by the 

1 Ecc. Ckron. of Scot., i. 190. 



PAPAL RELATIONS UNDER INDEPENDENCE. 2$$ 

Church ; and they will not presume to injure 
or diminish the rights of the Church, but rather 
preserve them untouched." 1 

Upon Edward Baliol's invasion, Bishop Bane 
fled into Flanders, where he died at Bruges, 
September 22, 1332. On that occasion Edward 
III. wrote to the pope, desiring him to conse- 
crate an Englishman for St. Andrews, and rec- 
ommended his own treasurer, Robert, archdea- 
con of Berks. The pope took no notice of 
the application, But Edward's letter is ex- 
tant. 2 To be safe on both sides, some plea 
was found by the court at Avignon for with- 
holding consecration of a bishop for St. An- 
drews, until, at the end of nine years, the king 
of France united with the king of Scotland in 
soliciting the promotion for William Landel, 
who entered upon office in 1341. "During 
that vacancy Edward, king of England, seized 
the estate of the bishopric, without regarding 
the title which his vassal Edward Baliol might 
have had to it." 3 Thus the highest places in 
both Church and State were acknowledged to 
be indebted to the pope for their most solemn 
sanction. 

Scotland was, upon the whole, a favored 
province of the papal empire, and enjoyed, at 
some important junctures, its invaluable pro- 
tection, and regarded it with loyal attachment. 

1 Ecc. Chron. of Scot., i. 192. - Ibid., 195. 3 Ibid, 



234 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Countries in which a relation to the Church of 
Rome had grown up spontaneously from the 
earliest times had also their hereditary episco- 
pacy of native growth, with hereditary privi- 
leges. In Scotland the episcopal system was 
introduced by royal policy from abroad. The 
first diocesan bishops were foreigners, and for 
support took refuge in the foreign powers from 
which they came. Over against that, the king 
and native placemen sought protection from 
the pope. When, in the course of time, all 
placemen were native, the national Church 
stood related to the Roman immediately and 
without reserve. 

In the old British and Columban churches 
the first duty of the clergy was instruction. Nor 
afterward, under the papal rule, was that duty 
entirely neglected in the parishes. It is stated 
by Burton that in almost all periods of the his- 
tory of Scotland whatever documents deal with 
the social condition of the people reveal also 
a machinery for education, always abundant 
when compared with any traces of art or other 
elements of civilization. The genealogy of 
education in that country must be carried down 
from its earliest Christian churches. The doc- 
trines and facts of Scripture formed the pop- 
ular instruction of the old British and Irish 
churches, from which the Scottish was descend- 
ed. At the same time, it can hardly be doubt- 



PAPAL RELATIONS UNDER INDEPENDENCE. 235 

ed that parochial instruction was greatly im- 
paired, if not broken down, in some places in 
the long and desolating wars which followed 
the death of Alexander III. 

No movement for reformation, like that 
headed by Wycliff in England, appears among 
the Scottish clergy of the fourteenth century. 
Yet among the common people, especially in 
the West, and some of the parish clergy a de- 
mand of that nature was very likely operating 
quietly as an inheritance from earlier times, 
preparing the way for that dissent of the so- 
called Lollards of Kyle which broke out in the 
succeeding century. 1 As late as the accession 
of James Bane to the bishopric of St. Andrews 
(1328) the Culdee society of that church was 
still in existence and asserted its right to elect 
the bishop. 2 If such was the case at the very 
head of the Romish organization for the king- 
dom, it is not unlikely that among out-of-the- 
way parishes in the West, where the old Church 
had its original strongholds, more of its earlier 
spirit may have remained. The revolution to 
Romanism, so far as the laity and parochial 
clergy were concerned, pertained only to sys- 
tem of government and ecclesiastical allegiance. 
If these were satisfactory, it was a matter of 
little moment to the rulers how pious or well- 
informed were the country parishes and their 

1 Intro, to Knox's Hist. 2 Ecc. Chron. i. 189. 



236 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

priests. And yet, from a sentence in the re- 
script touching the coronation of David II., the 
pope appears to have had a suspicion of such 
freedom being, in some quarters, indulged too 
far. 



CHAPTER X. 

PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.— RISE OF THE SCOTTISH 
UNIVERSITIES. 

JAMES, the only surviving son of Robert III., 
left Scotland in the year 1405, on his way 
to France, where it was designed that he should 
complete his education. When off Flambor- 
ough Head, the ship in which he sailed was 
captured by an English squadron, although 
the two countries were then at peace, and he 
was carried to London and confined in the 
Tower. At the end of two years he was re- 
moved to Nottingham Castle, from which (in 
1 41 3) he was taken back to the Tower of 
London, and ere the close of that year trans- 
ferred to Windsor Castle. Carried to France 
by Henry V. on one of his expeditions, he was 
again remanded to Windsor Castle, and there 
remained to the end of his long imprison- 
ment. 

King Robert III. died in April, 1406. His 
brother, the duke of Albany, became regent, 
and at his death, in 141 8, the same office passed 
into the hands of his son, no earnest effort ap- 
parently having been made for the liberation of 

237 



238 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the young- king, in whose name the government 
was conducted. 

As the ambition of English kings in regard 
to Scotland was only to have it annexed to 
their own dominion, they had no motive to 
treat with harshness a captive king whom 
they might hope to win over. To furnish him 
with all means of education which the times 
possessed was perfectly consistent with the 
purpose for which he was retained in custody. 
James made good use of all. In his long dur- 
ance of eighteen years he became the best- 
educated prince of his time. In literature, in 
philosophy and law, in music and poetry, he 
excelled. Nor was he prohibited the practice 
of such manly exercises as were consistent with 
the nature of the constraint under which he was 
held. The poem called the " King's Quair," in 
which he sings of his calamities and of his love 
for a lady casually seen from the window of his 
prison, is, without any allowance for the royal 
rank of the author, the finest poem of its time 
in the English language. Nor did he fail, after 
the death of his uncle, the duke of Albany, to 
make his influence felt in the politics of Scot- 
land. From Henry V. he received the most 
respectful treatment that could be extended to 
a captive. 

After Henry's death, and the misfortunes of 
the English in France began, it was expedient 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 239 

to come to better terms with Scotland. James, 
by proposal of the English council, was released 
upon ransom or pay for his maintenance, and on 
condition of a truce of seven years between the 
two countries, and that he should forbid his sub- 
jects to enter the French service. 1 When, be- 
fore his return, it was thought desirable that he 
should be allied in marriage with the English 
royal family, it was found that the heroine of 
the " King's Quair," to whom his heart was al- 
ready devoted, was no other than the Lady Jane 
Beaufort, daughter of the earl of Somerset and 
cousin of Henry V. With his queen and a 
splendid escort James took his way northward. 
He was met by a royal company on the border 
of Scotland, and crowned at Scone on the 21st 
of May, 1424. 

During the long time of the regency, the usur- 
pations of a rapacious and haughty nobility had 
encroached oppressively upon both the commons 
and the Crown. James put forth every effort to 
establish an equal balance of rights, to assert the 
royal authority over the land and to improve the 
condition of the people. At the same time, he 
lived in a simple, accessible way, seeking intelli- 
gence of the wants of all classes, and open to 
the presentation of all grievances. With the 
unguarded openness of a brave man he trusted 
too far to the intrinsic merits of his government, 

1 Lingard, v. 61 ; Burton, ii. 397. 



240 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

believing that its public benefits would recom- 
mend it. The selfish malignity of a few, who 
deemed themselves aggrieved by those meas- 
ures of public advantage, found therefore but 
little obstacle in its way. A body of assassins 
broke into the monastery at Perth, where he was 
temporarily residing, and slew him in the midst 
of his family. It was on the evening of the ioth 
of February, 1436. National indignation was 
fiercely expressed in the long and loud condem- 
nation of the murderers, and in the elaborate 
punishments inflicted on them. 

The reign of James I. constitutes an epoch 
in the history of Scottish legislation, education 
and literature. The plans of the king were 
sustained by the Church, which fully appreci- 
ated the value of improvements falling in with 
a progress of her own. Legislation was the 
principal field of the king's own efforts. He 
called frequent Parliaments, and kept them 
busy. 1 Effects proceeded thence to all other 
departments of national culture, and James's 
own example of high education and literary 
accomplishment recommended to popular favor 
pursuits which otherwise were gaining ground 
in public esteem. 

In Scotland education was, in the first in- 
stance and for many centuries, entirely the 
work of the Church, and literary men were 

1 Burton, ii. 399. 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 24 1 

churchmen. King James I. was the earliest 
author of any note among laymen. For min- 
isters of religion ability to read and write the 
Latin language was required, and a competent 
knowledge of the Latin version of the Holy 
Scriptures, in addition to all that they were ex- 
pected to impart to the people. For that pur- 
pose had the Columbite colleges been contin- 
ued, until supplanted by the Romish monas- 
teries. These latter, in the thirteenth century, 
were actuated by an all-pervading zeal for 
knowledge and intellectual training. By the 
opening of the fourteenth century a stage had, 
in some countries, been reached preparing the 
way for the culture of the modern tongues. 
In Scotland the war of independence greatly 
retarded that progress. That it was not en- 
tirely stopped was due to the Church, in her 
old hereditary capacity of instructor, maintain- 
ing a degree of popular intelligence. Although 
the rise of a native literature was not at first 
so abundant as in England, it was more purely 
national. The works of Barbour and Wynton 
are concerned with purely Scottish themes. 
With the exception of the " King's Quair," 
such also are the poems attributed to James I. 
What is called the English language grew up 
simultaneously in England and the Lowlands 
of Scotland. 

In the liberalizing tendency which affected 

16 



242 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the church schools generally in the fourteenth 
century, Scotland, though behind, came in for 
a share before the century closed ; but in the 
next century her literary rank became conspic- 
uous, even above that of her southern neighbor. 
There are no statistics of education "suf- 
ficient to afford an idea of the number of 
schools in the country," or the subjects taught 
in each, down even to the Reformation. " But 
in documents much older than the war of inde- 
pendence the school and the schoolmaster are 
familiar objects of reference." They occur 
in connection with business of the religious 
houses. The schools consisted of two classes 
— parish schools and the monastic schools de- 
voted to preparation for clerical office, the first 
care being to provide public instruction in prac- 
tical religion. Separate institutions for secular 
education were the growth of a later time. In 
the fifteenth century mention occurs of schools 
attached to the borough corporations, which 
were called grammar schools, in which instruc- 
tion was continued as far as a good practical 
knowledge of Latin. An act of Parliament pass- 
ed in 1496 enacted that through all the king- 
dom the eldest sons and heirs of barons and 
freeholders should be continued at the gram- 
mar school " until they be completely founded 
and have perfect Latin," and after that to attend 
the schools of art and law three years. Com- 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 243 

pliance with that statute was to be enforced by 
a fine of twenty pounds upon failure. 

Education for the people has always in Scot- 
land taken precedence of education for the 
few. 

The earliest Scottish university was founded 
at St. Andrews in 1410 by Bishop Wardlaw, 
and received the sanction of Pope Benedict 
XIII. in 1 41 3. 

During the papal schism, when from 1378 
there were two rival lines of popes, one at 
Rome and the other at Avignon, and from 
1409 a third at Pisa or Bologna, Scotland ad- 
hered consistently to the pope at Avignon. 
It was the Avignonese pope who gave his 
sanction to the University of St. Andrews. 
But next year the Council of Constance met, 
which deposed all three popes and elected an- 
other — namely, Martin V., who was to be sole 
pope. Benedict XIII., unwilling to submit, re- 
tained his papal court and as many adherents 
as he could persuade, until his death. The ac- 
tion of the council was communicated to Scot- 
land by the abbot of Pontiniac, who had audi- 
ence given him in a large assembly of the cler- 
gy at Perth. On that occasion Benedict was 
also represented by one Harding, a Franciscan 
monk, who made a long address upon the 
theme, " My son, do nothing without advise- 
ment; so shall it not repent thee after the 



244 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

deed," in which he labored to prove the in- 
formality of the council and that none were 
under obligation to comply with its decrees, 
and that Benedict XIII. was still entitled to the 
allegiance of the Christian world. To that 
plea answer was made by John Fogo, a monk 
of Melrose, who from the text, "Withdraw 
yourselves from every brother who walketh 
disorderly," refuted Harding's arguments, and 
showed that the supporter of him, who pre- 
tended to be pope in opposition to the council, 
was a disturber of the peace of the Church. 
The assembly resolved to accept the action 
of the council, and Scotland once more fell 
into line with the adherents of the pope of 
Rome. 

The Church of Scotland, which for five hun- 
dred years held little or no connection with 
Rome, had now, through the course of events 
already recounted, before the opening of the 
fifteenth century become one of the most close- 
ly dependent upon it. Rome had been propiti- 
ated as an ally against England ; the metropol- 
itan pretensions of York had been encountered 
with the arms of papal authority ; Scottish sov- 
ereignty had been recognized by the pope, and 
its recognition enjoined by him upon the king 
of England ; and papal favor, though not al- 
ways consistent, had been sought in the dan- 
gerous conflict with a near and stronger power. 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 245 

In the fifteenth century the attitude of England 
became less threatening ; both countries were 
too much occupied with internal troubles to 
have much strength to spare for harassing 
each other. The long minorities of James 
II., James III. and James IV., with the brevity 
of their personal reigns, gave occasion to an 
exaggerated growth of power in some of the 
great aristocratic families of Scotland, the 
Douglases, Hamiltons, Dunbars and others, 
among whom it was a matter of no common 
difficulty for the monarch to maintain his ascend- 
ency. Englishmen were wholly engaged with 
their wars in France, and afterward with those 
of York and Lancaster among themselves, and 
the succeeding policy of Henry VII. of England 
was wisely pacific. The frequent conflicts be- 
tween northern and southern inhabitants of the 
border were only local and predatory raids. 
Through most of the century the Scottish hier- 
archy, absorbed in its own rivalries and ambi- 
tions, took little concern to scrutinize the opin- 
ions of obscure people. Not that heresy was 
deemed harmless — it was punished with the 
severest penalty when discovered — but in the 
press of more imminently threatening dangers 
and more exacting interests it no doubt often 
escaped attention. Dissenters existed in both 
countries without much public notice being 
taken of them; and yet not all with impunity. 



246 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

The highest places in the Church of Scotland 
were now in the gift of the king and the pope, 
while their large revenues rendered them ob- 
jects of ambition for the nobility. Wealth, 
possession of power, and impunity in luxuri- 
ous indulgence were producing effects which, 
in course of time, became scandalous. Bishops 
whose temporal interests were but slightly af- 
fected by discharge of duty, and very much by 
hierarchical policy, were tempted to neglect the 
care of souls, to look after their own revenues 
and pleasures. In such cases, the men put into 
parishes as pastors were such as suited the 
worldly views of those who appointed them. 
The moral character of the clergy, upon the 
whole, degenerated. It became worldly, and 
religious service formal. Preaching ceased to 
be considered the duty of a pastor. It was not 
expected of a bishop. Spirituality abandoned 
the routine of services which made no demand 
on either mind or heart. 

In that state of general ecclesiastical unfaith- 
fulness, there were still traditions of a better 
time, and rumors came of reforms being at- 
tempted elsewhere. Among the best informed 
of the parishioners some were found to sympa- 
thize with the English and Bohemian dissent- 
ers. In the year 1408, James Resby, an Eng- 
lishman and follower of Wycliff, was arrested 
in Scotland for teaching doctrines contrary to 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 247 

those of the Catholic Church. He was charged 
by Lawrence of Lindores, president of a coun- 
cil of the clergy, as guilty of forty heretical 
opinions. Only two have been recorded — 
namely, that the pope was not the vicar of 
God, and that no man could be rightly es- 
teemed pope if he was of a wicked life. For 
those opinions he was burned to death at 
Perth, under authority of the regent, the 
duke of Albany. 

Other critics of prevailing doctrines and 
clerical practices arose ; nor is it to be pre- 
sumed that every such dissenter came under 
the notice of a bishop or informer. The writer 
who records the execution of Resby states also 
that " the opinions and books of Wycliff are 
entertained by several Lollards in Scotland, 
but in extreme secrecy," and that " they sel- 
dom or never are restored to the bosom of the 
faith." One whose name is not mentioned was 
burned for heresy at Glasgow in 1422; and 
Paul Craw, the more conspicuous for being a 
foreigner, was condemned for heretical opinions 
touching the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 
the adoration of saints and auricular confession, 
and burned at St. Andrews in 1432. 

With the progress of education the advocates 
of dissenting opinions increased in number, for 
an important distinction existed between the 
neglected instructions of the pastorate and 



248 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

those of the expanding colleges and univer- 
sities. As education in the latter was pro- 
vided free, or at a trifling expense, its influ- 
ence extended to high and low. It was, 
moreover, the avenue to promotion. Learn- 
ing was in those days a very common object 
of ambition among young men of all ranks. 
The hierarchy, who were most bitterly opposed 
to reform, were in many cases founders or mu- 
nificent patrons of schools. The same bishop 
who laid the foundations of St. Andrews also 
committed Resby and Craw to the flames. To 
resist the higher education was more than any 
bishop's reputation could stand, and yet in 
promoting it they were unawares constructing 
weapons for use against the absoluteness of 
their own authority. 

The colleges and universities of Scotland in- 
creased in number. St. Andrews University, 
established in 1410, was sustained by the ad- 
dition of St. Salvador's College about 1455, by 
that of St. Leonard's in 151 2, and by that of 
St. Mary's in 1537. The University of Glas- 
gow was commenced by Bishop Turnbull in 
1450, with authority of Pope Nicholas V., after 
the model of that at Bologna. The old Col- 
lege of Aberdeen was in 1494 erected into a 
university on the model of that of Paris by 
Bishop Elphinstone, with the papal sanction 
of Alexander VI. 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 249 

The royal patronage of James I. was judi- 
ciously extended to the same cause. At St. 
Andrews he not only encouraged the " profes- 
sors by his presence at their lectures, but also 
gave order that no person should be preferred 
to any benefice unless it was testified by the 
professors that he had made a reasonable 
progress in learning; and for that effect he 
kept a roll of the best qualified from which to 
fill places that happened to fall void. Such he 
thought to be the surest way for banishing ig- 
norance from the Church." He also frequently 
admonished churchmen in place to " live as they 
professed, and not to shame the bountifulness 
of princes by abusing their donations in riot 
and luxury." 

St. Andrews, after ages of pre-eminence as 
an actual primacy, was at last, in 1472, by the 
due formality of a papal bull issued by Sixtus 
IV., erected into an archbishopric, and all the 
rest of the bishops in Scotland, twelve in num- 
ber, ordained to be subject thereto. The lat- 
ter provision was too explicit, and called out 
a strong opposition from other bishops. The 
difference was settled when Glasgow (in 1488) 
was also honored with archiepiscopal dignity, 
with Galloway, Argyll and the isles as subor- 
dinate sees, while the primacy was reserved for 
St. Andrews. In the latter case, the papal action 
was taken on the ground of Scottish national 



250 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

sovereignty, and to cut off the pretensions of 
English metropolitans. 

Among the people of the west country, where 
once the old British and Columbite ministry had 
been most highly revered and their churches 
had been longest sustained, a party arose who 
strongly dissented from many of the doctrines 
of their Romish priests. Along the coast of 
Ayrshire, in the district of Kyle and Cunning- 
ham, they seem to have been most numerous. 
Very naturally, they were confounded by the 
public of their time with the followers of Wyc- 
liff, who were themselves confounded with the 
Lollards of the Netherlands, and those early 
Scottish Reformers were accordingly called the 
Lollards of Kyle. They had proceeded to the 
length of agreeing upon certain principles, and 
of drawing up a list of articles on which they 
held that the Church needed reformation, when 
in 1494 they were brought to the knowledge 
of the archbishop of Glasgow. Their articles, 
as preserved by their opponents, and extracted 
from the register of Glasgow, were in number 
thirty-four, of which some of the more import- 
ant were — 

1. That images ought not to be made nor 
worshiped. 

2. That the relics of saints ought not to be 
adored. 

4. That Christ gave the power of binding 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 25 I 

and loosing to Peter only, and not to his suc- 
cessors. 

5. That Christ ordained no priests to conse- 
crate. 

6. That after the consecration in the mass 
there remaineth bread, and the natural body 
of Christ is not there. 

8. That Christ did abrogate the power of 
secular princes. 

9. That every faithful man and woman is a 
priest. 

1 2. That the pope deceiveth the people with 
his bulls and indulgences. 

13. That the mass profiteth not the souls 
that are in purgatory. 

1 7. That the pope exalts himself above God 
and against God. 

18. That the pope cannot remit the pains 
of purgatory. 

20. That the excommunication of the Church 
is not to be feared. 

22. That priests may have wives, according 
to the constitution of the law. 

26. That the pope cannot forgive sins. 

31. That to worship the sacraments of the 
Church is idolatry. 

For distributing those articles no less than 
thirty persons were cited to appear before the 
council. The charge was brought against them 
by the archbishop of Glasgow. Fortunately 



252 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

for them, the king himself, James IV., presided, 
and was favorably impressed with the state- 
ments made by their speakers, and no little 
amused with the ready and pithy way in which 
they met the arguments of the archbishop. 
They were dismissed with an admonition to 
beware of new doctrines and to content them- 
selves with the faith of the Church. 1 

1 Knox, Intro. Ecc. Chron., ii. 513. 



CHAPTER XI. 

CLOSING SUMMARY. 

THE Christian Church in Scotland, from the 
earliest hint of its existence in the third 
century until the dawn of the sixteenth, passed 
through four stages of existence. In the first 
it was a missionary enterprise, in which the 
principal personages were such men as Nin- 
ian and Patrick and Columba and Aidan, who, 
at the head each of his company of followers, 
planted themselves on the border of some hea- 
then district and labored for its conversion. 
The system which they carried out was that 
of religious schools, all on the same plan. 
These schools were set up in places conveni- 
ent for their converts or for the heathen, for 
whose conversion they were designed, and 
were devoted to educating clergy and send- 
ing them out to build up congregations or to 
minister in them. The pastors thus appointed 
were held to be related specially to the college 
which educated and appointed them, and unless 
sent out to form another station, or choosing to 
be voluntary anchorets, the college was their 

253 



254 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

home ; and all the colleges adhered to the same 
common doctrine and plan of government. 

It was a peculiar plan. It was not presbyte- 
rian, for although the heads of the colleges were 
presbyters, as also were many of the brethren, 
yet each college acted, in some respects, with a 
separate authority. The parochial distribution 
of presbyters was undeveloped. They minis- 
tered according to clans and septs of clans, and 
the college to which they belonged was their 
government. No presbyterial meetings, no 
synodal meetings, no general assembly of all, 
had any existence. Their regular consultations 
were those of the brethren in a college. Iona 
or Lindisfarne or Abernethey sends out her 
licentiates by authority resident in herself, and 
to her do they continue to look for moral and 
ecclesiastical support. 

It was not episcopal, for the chief authority 
was not in a bishop, but in the society of breth- 
ren who constituted the college, and the supe- 
rior was the presbyter head of /the fraternity. 
No place existed for a bishop. The country 
was not divided into dioceses. And if a wan- 
dering bishop appeared in any of the colleges, 
he was respected as of higher ecclesiastical rank, 
but they had nothing for him to do, which could 
not be as well done in his absence. 

Upon the establishment of that system over 
the whole country, with its colleges at Iona, 



CLOSING SUMMARY. 2$$ 

Dunkeld, Abernethey, Melrose and elsewhere, 
a second stage began, in which the missionary 
feature gave way to pastoral routine, and the 
system became the national Church establish- 
ment of the Scots and Picts. Among the Picts 
an imperfect attempt to substitute the Romish 
secular system from England was only partial 
and temporary. The Church which adapted 
itself to clans and families, instead of to par- 
ishes and dioceses, was perhaps thought to be 
best suited to the social condition of the coun- 
try. Absence of the ordinary stringent mon- 
astic vows left the brethren free to hold prop- 
erty and to marry. Perhaps few comparatively 
availed themselves of the freedom, but a good- 
ly number did. In cases where the superior was 
a married man, his revenue was sometimes re- 
tained by his son, who, without being a clergy- 
man, inherited also his father's rank and title as 
abbot. 1 

It was in that state of things that the Cul- 
dees arose, a society of clerical reformers to 
enforce stricter observance of the collegiate 
method. 

A third stage of the record opens in the 
reign of Malcolm Canmore and his Saxon 
queen — a revolution continued by their sons 
— whereby the Romish system, both secular 
and regular, was enforced by royal authority 

1 Joseph Robertson, in Quart. Rev., vol. 85, art. iv. 117. 



256 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

upon the nation, and the native Scottish Church 
extinguished. 

A fourth stage was gradually reached in the 
course of ecclesiastical aggression from Eng- 
land, to escape which the Scots sought refuge 
in the pope. His protection was granted, and, 
as far as concerned the Church, was effective. 
A papal tax was submitted to, and Scotland be- 
came papal. Notwithstanding an interruption 
during the war of independence, that favor 
continued, and was cultivated as a protection 
against a nearer and very obtrusive power. 
Thus it came to pass that, before the end of 
the fourteenth century, Scottish ecclesiasticism 
was more directly and completely conformable 
to the papacy than that of the churches of 
France or England, which had been part of 
the papal empire from a much earlier date. 

Through the fifteenth century an inverse 
process went on, whereby the easy security 
of the exotic ecclesiasticism declined into in- 
dulgence, and, on the other side, the increase 
of education led to more discriminate observa- 
tion of existing practices and a more common 
knowledge of the Bible. It might be called the 
period of the rise of the universities, from the 
erection of that of St. Andrews until the con- 
troversy of the Reformation became a national 
question — one destined to control every other 
for the next one hundred and fifty years. 



CLOSING SUMMARY. 257 

The change toward emancipation from the 
papal yoke was slow, and by successive steps, 
and had proceeded to a great length before 
men perceived to what a revolution things were 
tending. For a long time that growing spirit 
of revolt was not against the papacy. The 
popes, upon the whole, had been very friendly 
to Scotland. It was against doctrines and 
practices in the national Catholic Church that 
protests arose — against senseless, unscriptural 
doctrines, the immoral lives of the clergy, espe- 
cially of the higher clergy, and their oppressive 
treatment of the people. Putting to death 
those who made public such protest no doubt 
deterred many from professing the same opin- 
ions, but it also called attention to them and 
challenged examination of them. Then arose 
questions as to the personal character of some 
of the popes, which toward the end of the 
century was so notorious as to be an offence 
to all Europe. It began to be denied that a 
wicked man could be made the head of the 
Chnrch on earth by any forms of consecration. 

A further step led to denial of the papal 
claim to be vicar of God, and to power of par- 
doning sin. In its first stages, that progress 
appeared not in the action of any reforming 
priest, but among the better educated laymen. 
In the last years of the fifteenth century, it was 
evinced in the Lollards of Kyle, and by action 
17 



258 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

of the estates of the realm, in remonstrating 
against papal intrusion and pretension to dis- 
tribute all church patronage in the land, and in 
denouncing persons who backed up those pre- 
tensions by going to Rome to secure presenta- 
tion to benefices, and those who carried litiga- 
tion to Rome, and thereby recognized the papal 
court as higher than that of the nation. Those 
who had cases there were ordered to bring 
them home to be settled by the law courts of 
the land. 

Yet during the same time, by the erection 
of St. Andrews and Glasgow into archbishop- 
rics, and their disputes and appeal to Rome, 
papal intervention in Scottish affairs was for a 
time increased. Possession of great revenue 
by churchmen, sustained in place by a strong 
foreign power, and influence wielded by them 
in the monarchical politics of the times, secured 
the ascendency of the papal system for two 
generations longer, without in the least degree 
retrieving its impaired popularity. Power to 
repress the utterance of dissentient opinions 
failed to prevent people from entertaining 
them, while successive utterances became bold- 
er and fuller in denunciation of prevailing error 
and immorality, until finally redress was de- 
manded and obtained. 

Scotland, for a long time favorably impress- 
ed with the benefits of Romanism, and cher- 



CLOSING SUMMARY. 2 59 

ishing it as a friend, upon better knowledge 
of it and fuller experience of its fruits lost her 
respect for it, and, as those fruits developed in 
the pastorates of her Church and the morals 
of her higher clergy, found it at last to be in- 
tolerable. To return to her old collegiate or 
monastic plan was neither desirable nor prac- 
ticable ; a missionary form of the Church was 
no longer adequate to the demands of the na- 
tion. A more complete theology and greater 
experience in church affairs dictated a better 
method of discipline and a fuller creed. The 
compacted civil union of all that is now Scot- 
land, and the steady settlement of her increased 
population, called for a similar unity and com- 
prehensiveness of the governing system in 
the Church, with territorial distribution of the 
clergy. 

How these topics arose for discussion, what 
answers were proposed, what was adopted as 
authority for arbitration, with the inevitable 
war of logic and of arms, and what conclu- 
sion was reached, will fall into another part 
of this narrative. 



BOOK THIRD. 



CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE 
REFORMATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

DECLINE OF CLERICAL PIETY. 

GAVIN DOUGLAS, at the age of twenty- 
two, was made rector of Hawick, and 
evinced his qualifications for the office by a 
Scottish translation of Ovid's " Remedy for 
Love." Among churchmen of rank one of 
the best, in literary merit second to not more 
than one of his contemporaries, for sobriety of 
deportment, he stood conspicuous in an age of 
violence. The events of his life present per- 
haps as unbiased a picture of the motives pre- 
vailing among the hierarchy, and of the way in 
which benefices were conferred in those days, 
as can now be obtained. 

Royal perfidy and murder had broken the 
old line of Douglas, but the younger branch 
of Angus inherited its honors and popular 
favor. Already it had reached the summit of 
its greatness in the hands of Archibald, the 
great earl of Angus, commonly spoken of by 
the nickname of " Bell-the-Cat." Hamiltons, 
under the leadership of the earl of Arran, had 
risen also to a degree of wealth and political 

263 



264 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

influence scarcely inferior to the Douglases ; 
Stewarts of the royal line and its affiliated 
clans, with Gordons of Huntly, Hepburns of 
Bothwell, Campbells of Argyll, and other stems 
of the aristocracy, sought to subordinate the 
richest places in the Church, as appanages for 
cadets of their own houses. 

Papal patronage had long been making prog- 
ress and limiting that of the Crown and the 
nobility. Laws had been passed to resist it, 
and although not always enforced, because of 
the conflict of parties, were a strong defensive 
armor when the native interests were agreed. 

Repeated and long minorities in the royal 
line had given occasion for greatly dispropor- 
tioned increase of power in a few baronial fam- 
ilies, whose ambitions came in conflict, and the 
pope profited by their dissensions. 

The most honorable benefice in the Church 
was the archbishopric of St. Andrews, now the 
authoritatively constituted primacy of all Scot- 
land. Next to that was Glasgow, then Dun- 
keld and the other diocesan episcopates, the 
great abbacies of Aberbrothock, Lochleven, 
and so forth. These places were desirable 
no less for emolument than for honor. 

It was in the eighth year of the reign of 
James IV. (1496) that Gavin Douglas received 
his first benefice. Soon afterward he was pro- 
moted to the place of provost in the cathedral 



DECLINE OF CLERICAL PIETY. 265 

church of St. Giles in Edinburgh, which, being 
in the gift of the Crown, he took possession of 
without opposition. In subsequent preferments 
the weight of his family was greatly to his dis- 
advantage, bringing the force of various oppos- 
ing interests against him. The third son of 
the great Earl Archibald Douglas of Angus, he 
was born in 1474, or early next year, and was 
designed from boyhood for the Church — more, 
it would seem, from his literary turn of mind 
than for any depth of religious feeling evinced 
by him. His education, the best then to be ob- 
tained in Scotland, was completed in Paris. 

When James IV. made his invasion of Eng- 
land in 1 5 1 3, the great earl strongly remonstra- 
ted against it. His remonstrance failed. But 
although, because of his advanced age, he 
himself remained behind, his two oldest sons, 
George and William, followed their impulsive 
king, and, together with about two hundred gen- 
tlemen of the Douglas name, fell by his side in 
the battle of Flodden. The earl retired to the 
religious house of St. Mains in Galloway, and 
died soon after, leaving a grandson of his own 
name to inherit the estates and honors of the 
house of Angus. Among the slain on that dis- 
astrous field were found clergymen of the high- 
est rank in the Church of Scotland. One of 
these was the archbishop of St. Andrews, a nat- 
ural son of the king — of course a youth — who 



266 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

• 

had held for several years, in addition to that 
honorable see, the abbacies of Dunfermline and 
Aberbrothock, with the priory of Coldingham. 
All these places, left vacant by his death, be- 
came objects of cupidity to some of the greedy 
families of rank. 

Queen Margaret, in a letter to Leo X., strong- 
ly urged the merits of Gavin Douglas as a suit- 
able person to be secured in possession of Ab- 
erbrothock, to which he was already assigned, 
and soon afterward nominated him also to the 
primacy. Presuming that the royal nomination 
would not be disputed, he forthwith occupied 
the castle of St. Andrews. But John Hepburn, 
of the noble family of Bothwell, and already 
prior of the cathedral, was elected by the can- 
ons. The pope, who (notwithstanding the na- 
tional laws to the contrary) continued to assert 
his right to dispose of all benefices, mediately 
or immediately, granted his sanction to Andrew 
Forman, a nephew, it is said, of Alexander, Lord 
Home. At that time, Forman was bishop of 
Bourges, a benefice in the Gallican Church, con- 
ferred upon him for his services to France in 
promoting the march of James IV. into Eng- 
land. Leo X., now having a nephew to provide 
for, persuaded Forman to resign that bishopric, 
in view of promotion to the primacy in Scotland. 

Hepburn, having possession of the ecclesi- 
astical buildings and sustained by his friends. 



DECLINE OF CLERICAL PIETY. 267 

raised a military force, and expelled the adhe- 
rents of Douglas and garrisoned the castle. 
The young earl of Angus interposed with two 
hundred cavalry, but his uncle declined the 
unseemly contest, and withdrew his claim. 
Hepburn, for a time, ruled in St. Andrews by 
strength of arms. And Forman, with his pa- 
pal bull, was helpless, because no man dared to 
publish it. At last, his kinsman, Lord Home, 
came to his aid with ten thousand of his Bor- 
der followers, subdued the opposition, and 
caused the papal gift to be proclaimed in Edin- 
burgh with great solemnity. For this service 
the brother of Lord Home was to receive the 
priory of Coldingham. But the end of the 
quarrel was not until after Hepburn had pre- 
sented his plea at the court of Rome, and the 
arrival of the duke of Albany from France. 

Before the end of the first year of her wid- 
owhood, the queen married the earl of Angus, 
nephew of Gavin Douglas. Doubtful, as some 
were at first, of the wisdom of constituting her 
regent, on account of the advantage it might 
open to her brother, Henry VIII. of England, 
to interfere in Scottish affairs, still more was it 
questioned now, when it put the most danger- 
ous rival of the royal dynasty in its very place 
of power. The estates began to think of meas- 
ures to prevent the evils apprehended from 
that quarter. The duke of Albany, younger 



268 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

brother of James III., had long been resident 
in France, where he enjoyed the friendship 
of Louis XL, with extensive possessions and 
princely honors. Immediately after the battle 
of Flodden, the opinion had been advanced that 
he was the proper person to act as regent. 
Now that opinion became the policy of the 
nation. But His Grace was unwilling to leave 
France, where he had become completely nat- 
uralized. He delayed, and did not arrive in 
Scotland until the 18th of May, 151 5. The 
war for the primacy was still unsettled. Un- 
der his management the parties submitted to 
a compromise, facilitated by the distribution of 
other rich benefices, which in that juncture had 
become available. 

Forman was left in possession of St. An- 
drews and of the abbacies of Dunfermline and 
Aberbrothock. The latter, taken by Gavin 
Douglas, was for a time to be conceded to 
Beaton, archbishop of Glasgow. Coldingham 
went to the brother of Lord Home. John 
Hepburn, prior of St. Andrews, was to receive 
from the archbishop a pension of three thou- 
sand crowns a year. To his brother, James 
Hepburn, was assigned the rich bishopric of 
Murray. Alexander Gordon, cousin to the 
earl of Huntly, was made bishop of Aberdeen. 
James Ogilvy, a kinsman of Lord Ogilvy, was 
appointed abbot of Dryburgh ; and George 



DECLINE OF CLERICAL PIETY. 269 

Dundas, of the noble family of that name, re- 
ceived as a layman the "commendation" of 
Torphichen. And so the prizes were distrib- 
uted among the honorable candidates. 

In all this nothing fell to the lot of Gavin 
Douglas, who had early withdrawn from the 
squabble. But neither did he escape the con- 
flict of arms. Four months before the arrival 
of the duke of Albany the bishop of Dunkeld 
died ; and the queen again recommended her 
husband's uncle to a vacant see. In this in- 
stance she succeeded in obtaining, it is thought 
through influence of her brother, the king of 
England, a papal bull in favor of her candi- 
date. But here, also, a competitor preoccupied 
the field. The earl of Athole had persuaded 
the canons of Dunkeld to "postulate" his 
brother, Andrew Stewart, who had not yet 
been advanced to sub-deacon's orders. Dou- 
glas was resisted, and accused of procuring a 
bull from Rome, and thereby violating the laws 
of the realm. He was found guilty and com- 
mitted to prison. It was the same cause which 
in Forman's case had not only passed unchal- 
lenged, but had been solemnly published in the 
capital of the kingdom. But the enemies of 
the Douglases were now in power. After 
about a year, during which Stewart drew the 
revenues of the see, an arrangement was en- 
tered into whereby Douglas obtained his free- 



27O THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

dom, and by the intercession of Beaton, arch- 
bishop of Glasgow, with the duke of Albany, his 
claim to the bishopric of Dunkeld was secured. 
All the obstacles, however, were not yet re- 
moved. For although, at Dunkeld, most of 
both the clergy and the laity received their 
new bishop with favor, the episcopal palace was 
still occupied by the retainers of Stewart, who 
also seized by force the tower of the cathedral, 
and obstructed the performance of divine ser- 
vice. Stewart himself arrived with a force of 
armed men, and commenced firing upon the 
bishop's party where they sat in council. Lord 
Ogilvy, and others with him, prepared for bat- 
tle, and by mustering from the neighboring 
districts, in the course of the next day, had a 
formidable body of fighting men assembled. 
Stewart, perceiving himself to be outnumber- 
ed, withdrew to the woods. But some of his 
party held their ground until the cathedral was 
taken by force. Nor did they surrender the 
palace before the matter was settled by inter- 
ference of the regent, for the bishop refused 
to carry violence to the shedding of blood. It 
was finally agreed that Stewart should give up 
his pretensions to the bishopric, but retain the 
rents he had levied, together with two subor- 
dinate benefices, on which he was to pay a 
certain tax. For that agreement the regent 
obtained the papal sanction. 



DECLINE OF CLERICAL PIETY. 2J\ 

In the whole of this history not a thought of 
the interests of the Church or for the people con- 
cerned is evinced— not a care for the kingdom 
of Christ, not a shadow of the gospel. It is a 
mere record of shameless greed, the working 
of that simple plan, 

" That they should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can." 

Certain places in the Church were worth so 
much money ; certain formalities were needed 
to qualify a man to hold one of them, and with 
a view to that end certain persons submitted to 
the formalities. Nor in the presence of such 
conspicuous examples can there be a doubt 
that many humbler places were disposed of 
in the same manner. Even a man of such 
peaceful disposition as Gavin Douglas, devo- 
ted to literary pursuits, and ready to withdraw 
from unchristian quarreling, could not get pos- 
session of what was conferred by authority, 
undisputed in that time, without the use of 
violence. It was much that he avoided blood- 
shed. 



CHAPTER II. 

CLERICAL MORALITY. 

GREED of money, actuating the hierarchy of 
Scotland to such a degree and in such a 
shameless way, was a constant provocation to 
remember that it was a system of foreign ori- 
gin, and that its interest in the country centred 
in its gains. Intelligent men could not fail to 
know that it was introduced, at no very distant 
date, in the hands of foreign bishops, abbots and 
monks, whose places were created for them by 
suppression of the native Church government, 
and subordination of the native clergy. None 
could fail to know that it held allegiance to a 
foreign ecclesiarch, or to perceive that Scots- 
men, who occupied its places of emolument, 
were alienated thereby from the interests of 
their humbler countrymen. Its highest digni- 
ties were still so recent that men then living 
could remember when they were constituted. 
Much fault was found with it among the people 
from whom its revenues were drawn. It was felt 
to be a growing evil, and the more oppressive 
that utterly unworthy men held its highest and 

272 • 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 273 

most lucrative benefices. Sir David Lindsay, 
who on so many points gave expression to the 
popular sentiment, one day approached the king 
when surrounded by a numerous train of nobil- 
ity, and declared himself a candidate for an of- 
fice which had lately become vacant. " I have," 
said he, " servit Your Grace lang, and luik to be 
rewardid, as others are ; and now your maister 
taylor, at the pleasure of God, is departit, where- 
fore I would desire of Your Grace to bestow this 
little benefite upon me." The king replied that 
he was amazed at such an application from a 
person who could neither shape nor sew. "Sir," 
rejoined the poet, " that maks nae matter, for 
you have given bishoprics and benefices to 
mony standing here about you, and yet they 
can neither teach nor preach ; and why may 
not I as weill be your taylor, thocht I can 
nouther shape nor sew, seeing teaching and 
preaching are nae less requisite to their voca- 
tion than shaping and sewing to ane taylor?" 

Teaching and preaching, however, had ceased 
to be any part of the work done by bishops ; 
they had ceased to consider it their duty. By 
the parish priest it was also generally neglect- 
ed, left to the occasional visits of mendicant 
monks. The people of all ranks were desti- 
tute of religious instruction, except in as far as 
they collected for themselves. 

But that was far from all the evil nestling in 

18 



274 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the system and making its effects known before 
the public. To put men into the ministry with- 
out ministerial qualifications was bad enough, 
but when many of them were also without 
piety, or positively immoral, it became scan- 
dalous. What religious influence can be ex- 
pected of godless men living in luxury and 
furnished with the means of gratifying every 
desire ? 

Rome, moreover, had added to the Deca- 
logue, and thereby greatly added to the num- 
ber of sins. Forbidding their priests to marry 
had almost, in relation to them, abolished the 
seventh commandment — so far, at least, that 
marriage inevitably excluded a man from the 
priesthood, concubinage not necessarily. The 
effects were, in the fifteenth century, widely 
spread over Western Christendom. On this 
subject the conduct of certain bishops and arch- 
bishops of the Scottish Church was notorious. 
The evidence to the fact, only too plain and 
abundant, is much of it of a nature unfit for 
republication and is so undisputed as not to 
need repetition. So common was that kind of 
immorality that it had ceased to be regarded 
with shame. In some cases no concealment was 
attempted. Beaton, cardinal and archbishop of 
St. Andrews, was open in his amours, and suc- 
ceeded in marrying his oldest daughter, with 
great and almost regal state, to a son of Earl 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 275 

Crawford. Hepburn, bishop of Murray, was 
equally shameless, but with a coarseness of 
bravado against which the cardinal was guard- 
ed by his culture and better taste. Even the 
decorous Gavin Douglas, bishop of Dunkeld, 
" did not die childless." 

With such examples in the primacy and in 
the episcopal palaces, similar conduct in the 
lower clergy was sure of impunity ; and con- 
temporaneous literature corroborates the voice 
of common fame. From the fourteenth cen- 
tury to the sixteenth few themes occur in the 
works of poets and authors of popular tales 
more frequently than the immorality of the 
clergy. Nor is it necessary, in order to justify 
the common censure, to assume that all priests 
were bad men. The bad might not have been 
a majority of the whole, but even if a relative- 
ly small number were openly guilty and went 
unpunished, very plainly the whole were either 
corrupted in opinion, or intimidated by what 
they deemed the greater power of the guilty. 
It is not a certain conclusion that the laity will 
be bad if their priests are bad ; but, with the bad 
conduct of the priesthood before their eyes, 
those who are viciously disposed will feel em- 
boldened in vice, a lower standard of morality 
will be maintained, and persons of wavering vir- 
tue will the more readily yield to temptation. 

In the days of James IV., when the oppos- 



276 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ing currents of events were hastening to their 
respective conclusions, when intelligence was 
increasing toward a movement for reforma- 
tion, and the proclivity of corruption reaching 
a degree which could no longer be endured, a 
goodly number of authors, of both verse and 
prose, appeared in Scotland. Their works are 
contemporaneous testimonies to the progress 
in both directions. The satire of some, who 
themselves were not strong enough to resist 
the downward stream, is the most telling tes- 
timony of all. 

William Dunbar, the chief of early Scottish 
poets, and without an equal until the rise of 
Burns, though he gave no evidence of belong- 
ing to the reforming party, at least penetrated 
and exposed the conduct of the other. He 
was a native of Lothian, born about the mid- 
dle of the fifteenth century, flourished in the 
time of James IV., and died within a few years 
after the battle of Flodden. In his early days 
he was a novice of the Franciscan order, and 
in the Franciscan garb had traveled and preach- 
ed in the principal towns of England from Ber- 
wick to Calais, and beyond the sea among the 
people of Picardy. He declares that in such 
capacity his mode of life constrained him to 
practice many a pious fraud from which no 
holy water could cleanse him. Later in life 
he enjoyed much admiration, but little emolu- 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 2jy 

ment, at the court of James IV. He would 
have accepted a benefice in the Church, and 
thought it a hardship that none was offered. 
His licentious poems do not seem to have oc- 
curred to him as an obstacle in the way to 
promotion. With the sharp scalpel of satir- 
ical wit he laid open to public contempt vices 
which it does not appear that he had himself 
the fortitude to resist. But if he could not 
heal the evils in which he was involved, he 
laid them bare before the eyes of men who 
had the remedy to apply. 

As a matter of course, when unchastity was 
common many other sins abounded. No sin 
ever reigns alone. Among the evils which 
prevailed were violence, rapine and disregard 
of life, against which, in many parts of the 
country, there was very imperfect protection. 
Profane swearing was notoriously common 
over the whole island, and especially was the 
profanity of Scotsmen proverbial among for- 
eigners. What in our day is meant by swearing 
like a trooper was then to swear like a Scot. 
Guilty as all classes were, the clergy took the 
lead. Testimony remains in literature. The 
writings of Bishop Douglas are liberally inter- 
spersed with profane oaths. As the spirit of 
the Reformation gained ground, it was deemed 
proper for Parliament to interfere. An act 
was passed in 1551 forbidding the practice. 



278 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

" A ' prelate of kirk,' earl or lord was to be 
fined in twelve pence for the first offence, com- 
mitted within the next three months ; different 
penalties were apportioned for different ranks 
during the first year ; and for the fourth offence, 
committed after the expiration of that period, 
a prelate, earl or lord was to be banished or 
imprisoned for the space of a year and a day." 
Of what class did that majority consist which 
thus attempted to restrain the lords and bish- 
ops from profane swearing? 

For men who were sensible of the turpitude 
of vice to hate the system which was training 
their country in such iniquity and disgrace 
hardly needed Christian faith. It was within 
the reach of a decent morality. National am- 
bition, desire to have the country respected 
among her neighbors, the moral safety of fam- 
ilies, the protection and comfort of society, de- 
manded a reformation. 

Things already mentioned were operating 
to produce alienation between the clergy and 
laity of Scotland, giving the impression to the 
laity that the clergy were not reliable guides 
where they were legally constituted the sole 
guides, and that their interests were not the 
best interests of the people. But there were 
other causes tending to the same end more 
directly. It was impossible to respect profli- 
gacy, especially in men whose office implied 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 279 

godliness, or grasping covetousness and ambi- 
tion on die part of men claiming to be succes- 
sors of the apostles. 

But there was a stronger feeling than con- 
tempt engendered by the conduct of the hier- 
archy in Scotland. Had their moral character 
been immaculate, there was in their treatment 
of the laity, high and low, a hardness repulsive 
of all affection. 

The canon law had grown up in the hands 
of ecclesiastics and for their benefit. The peo- 
ple had no part in its preparation, and knew 
it only as it was applied to their disadvantage. 
In Scotland such relations were established 
between it and the civil law that the one sus- 
tained the other. The screws of compulsion 
could thereby be turned down upon reluctat- 
ing subjects, who often felt that they were 
wronged without the possibility of redress. 
When the king or regent was favorable to the 
hierarchy, it was easy to find a plea for forfeit- 
ure of estates in whole or in part. The prop- 
erty of the nobility and well-to-do commoners 
had long been gradually sliding into the hands 
of the clergy. By the beginning of the six- 
teenth century the larger part of the landed 
estates of the kingdom belonged to the Church. 
James IV. resisted these aggressions, but his 
successor, though entertaining little love for 
the bishops about him, yielded to them, and to 



28o THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

enrich them distressed the nobility with " for- 
feitures and penalties." It is said that James 
Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews, had pre- 
pared for him a long list of properties to be 
forfeited as circumstances might prove favor- 
able. The report may be true or not ; that ir> 
was accepted as credible proves what the public 
of that time had learned to believe, and so be- 
lieving were accumulating hatred against the 
class of whom it was believed. To marry the 
illegitimate children of some of those wealthy 
churchmen could not have been a very satis- 
factory way of making reprisals. A more 
sweeping plan began to take possession of the 
minds of not a few. The artifices of what was 
to them inscrutable craft many began to think 
of encountering with open force. 

Canon law entered in many ways into the 
dealings of priest and people to embarrass the 
security and comfort of society. One fertile 
source of such evil was the wide range of re- 
lationship within which marriage could not be 
contracted. Persons descended from a com- 
mon ancestry to as far back as a great-great- 
grandfather or great-great-grandmother were 
within the prohibited bounds, and that whether 
the connecting link was one of consanguinity 
or formed by the spiritual relation of godfather 
or godmother. If at any point within that se- 
ries of Generations ft could be shown that one 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 28 1 

pair had been so united, unless corrected by a 
papal dispensation it would invalidate the legit- 
imacy of all descended from them. By this 
means were brought into the church courts all 
questions of legitimate birth and of hereditary 
inheritance. 

In a population so small as that of Scotland, 
with a clan system pervading so much of it, 
persons not versed in that kind of lore might 
very ignorantly and innocently wed within the 
prohibited eight degrees, and among the no- 
bility to avoid it must have required no little 
circumspection. As the Church or some church- 
man was, in many cases of disputed succession, 
the adverse claimant, such mistakes contributed 
to increase the ecclesiastical wealth at the ex- 
pense of the laity, and to the alienation of their 
good-will. This extravagant law had also its 
immoral consequences. Persons wishing to 
marry within the prohibited degrees would 
sometimes obtain a papal dispensation for the 
purpose, thereby making the moral character 
of the act depend upon the decision of the 
pope. Others — and such cases were not un- 
frequent, it seems — would contract marriage 
with the intention of procuring the papal dis- 
pensation afterward, but upon experience of a 
few months or years prefer to separate without 
applying for it, or continue to live together on 
such terms that they might separate at any 



282 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

time. And even when the parties stood to all 
appearance outside of the sacred circle, but in 
the course of their married life tired of each 
other, it proved in many instances to be no 
difficult matter to discover some link of kin- 
ship, natural or spiritual, to invalidate their 
union and justify them in considering it null. 
The better class of churchmen and of laymen 
lamented these evils. An archbishop of St. 
Andrews, in a letter of information for the 
pope, recounts them with regret, but neither 
he nor the pope seems to have thought of a 
remedy. 

Excommunication, the highest of ecclesiasti- 
cal punishments, depriving a man of social and 
civil as well as church privileges, had latterly 
been too frequently inflicted, in most countries 
of Western Europe, to retain its earlier terrors. 
In Scotland, from the working together of civil 
and canon law, it had become disgracefully com- 
mon, and yet sufficiently in force to be an instru- 
ment of great legal severity. Under the name 
of " cursing " it had come to be " the prelimina- 
ry step of a warrant for arrest and imprison- 
ment, and for the impounding and seizure of 
goods. Hence, 'letters of cursing' were as 
much the usual order in debit-and-credit trans- 
actions as any common writ of later times for 
seizing the person and distraining the goods." 
In the case of persons unable to pay tithes, or 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 283 

other church dues, the cursing was felt to be 
especially offensive. Tithes exacted in kind 
continued to increase in value, while the land 
tithed stood in a different relation to its owners 
and cultivators. In many cases much had been 
laid out on its improvement, and the fruit of 
other men's labors had greatly augmented the 
value of the proportion furnished by it for 
those to whom it owed nothing. Distraining 
was felt to be singularly offensive in that case, 
especially to the small landowners and farmers, 
whose own parsimonious industry perhaps had 
just brought their property to the condition of 
supporting their families. But the tithes were 
exacted from those to whom they were most 
oppressive, like other debts, by the ecclesiasti- 
cal process of cursing. Excommunication of a 
poor man for his poverty was grievous enough, 
but when inflicted as the first step in a process 
of distressing for debt, it was of a nature to 
kindle a fire of indignation against those from 
whom it proceeded. 

Besides tithes, there were other church dues 
and perquisites of clerical place, some of which, 
falling itpon families in times of affliction, press- 
ed with an aggravated cruelty. Such were the 
priest's perquisites upon the occasion of death 
in a. family, when the vicar claimed for his ser- 
vices, real or constructive, certain compensation. 
In the family of a farmer this entitled him to one 



284 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

of the cows, and what was called the "upmost 
cloth" or outer garment of the departed; nor 
does it seem to have been usual to remit the 
claim if the clothing of the family was already 
too scant or if the one cow was all the poor 
man had. Many people were reduced, by re- 
peated exactions, from a humble independence 
to absolute beggary, while the wealth and lux- 
ury of the exactors were daily increasing. Can 
it be doubted that the ecclesiastical cursings had 
their responses dark and deep in thousands of 
agonized hearts all over the land ? 

Such were facts which, when exposed by the 
most popular writers of the age, found no de- 
nial. In this respect the writings of Sir David 
Lindsay are of much historical value. Exten- 
sively popular, read among all classes, they 
abound in censure of prevailing vice and of 
abuses in both Church and State. The clergy 
are not spared, but the theme of satire was not 
denied. It was admitted that such things ought 
to be corrected, but no correction by the author- 
ities was ever made. 

Moreover, this draining of the people was 
enriching a class of men who held themselves 
to be the subjects of a foreign potentate, at 
whose court they plead in preference to that 
of their native monarch. Was it surprising 
that the people should detest the whole system 
and seek to expel it from their country? The 



CLERICAL MORALITY. 285 

more education advanced among them, and the 
fuller their knowledge of the existing state of 
things, the more rational their hatred became. 
Were they zealots because they desired free- 
dom from such unbearable servitude ? Then 
"zealot" must have a nobler meaning than we 
have given it credit for. 

Sir David Lindsay was a courtier from his 
youth — one of the most accomplished men of 
his time, of gay and lively temperament, of ready 
wit and great affluence of thought, which, if 
not deep, was always clear. His scholarship 
and correct moral character recommended him 
as a proper companion for the young king ; and 
after James V. arrived at actual sovereignty he 
received the office of chief herald for Scotland, 
under the title of "Lion king at arms." In that 
capacity he was connected with various embas- 
sies to the court of the emperor, to that of the 
king of France and to that of Denmark. Lind- 
say, although observing the Catholic worship and 
reverencing its authorities, when conformable to 
their own recognized principles, was a fearless 
exposer of malpractices. What the people in 
their private thoughts felt to be wrong, Lindsay 
subjected to ridicule in songs, tales and dramas, 
which carried exposure of it all over the land. 
People enjoyed his rhymes and laughed at his 
wit, but were roused to indignation by his un- 
veiling of their wrongs. Of all agencies going 



286 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

to effect a common understanding among intel- 
ligent people on the subject of their respec- 
tive grievances, and thereby bringing about a 
nationality of sentiment in detestation of that 
bondage of separate individuals and families 
into one common burst of hatred against the 
common evil, the greatest were the poems of 
David Lindsay. That persecution did not cut 
him off was due to the fact that he confined his 
criticism to abuses which no authority denied or 
presumed to defend. He was not, however, in- 
consistent with himself, and when the reforming 
purpose had, in course of things, created a par- 
ty in the politics of the country, he took a place 
in its ranks, willing to follow men better quali- 
fied to be leaders. His death occurred shortly 
before 1558. Although he did not live to see 
the triumph of the Reformation, his work played 
an important part among the causes which led 
to it. 



CHAPTER III. 

TRUTH AND ERROR. 

THERE is no power among men equal to a 
doctrine clearly apprehended and firmly be- 
lieved. It gives aim and concentrated purpose 
to the individual mind, and combines as one man 
the multitude actuated by it. Call it by what 
name you may — a scheme if among merchants ; 
a policy among statesmen ; an idea or system 
among philosophers ; or a faith in religion — a 
doctrine is the most cogent of all things in 
human affairs. 

What great act was ever performed without 
such a stimulus? What nation ever rose above 
insignificance without it? There have been men, 
as there have been nations, who have never ap- 
prehended any doctrine firmly enough to be im- 
pelled to any sacrifice for it ; but they are, and 
always have been, of that flabby, undecided 
character which, if it has done little good in 
the world, has indulged in an abundance of 
evil. Doctrine is morally the bony frame of 
human character. A man without a doctrine is 
a pliant piece of clay, unreliable and doubtful. 

287 



255 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND.. 

He may be a man whose purpose is to behave 
himself properly in a general way, or may car- 
ry his lack of aim so far as to have no attach- 
ment to any principle ; but he is not the man 
to be relied upon in a time of need, nor to leave 
any mark of himself for good. To leave deep 
enough impressions of evil needs neither doc- 
trine nor discipline. 

Conviction of the truth of a doctrine is some- 
times reached by mere habit of mind in hearing 
it taught and recommended as the only right 
thing, and sometimes by finding the various 
parts of which it consists fitting neatly into 
one another and making a consistent whole. 
Many of our common beliefs have no better 
foundation. On either of these grounds men 
are capable of believing — honestly believing — 
doctrines which, when compared with the real 
outside world, are found to be utterly untenable. 
It is quite possible in either of these two ways to 
believe firmly in great error, and to defend it 
with all the zeal and concentrated energy of a 
national or party policy. A doctrine merely con- 
sistent in its own constituent parts and incul- 
cated by systematic teaching, and resisting 
comparison with things outside of its own 
circle, may hold its ground indefinitely and 
wield the controlling and fortifying power of 
truth. But when, instead of being a mere fab- 
ric built of assumptions of the mind, it is the 



TRUTH AND ERROR. 2 59 

fruit of a full and fair comparison of all things 
properly concerned in it, a power is constituted 
which nothing can shake as long as the knowl- 
edge of it is maintained. 

Upon doctrine, and some sound doctrine, was 
the religion of Scotland founded as it stood in 
the fifteenth century. But much of it also had 
no better foundation than tradition and inner 
concinnity ; and the most chimerical doctrines 
were the most persistently forced upon the 
public faith. All of them were capable of a 
plausible proof, but so long had it been the cus- 
tom to take their truth for granted that the cler- 
gy were provoked by any requirement for proof. 
As long as the clergy were the stronger it was 
easier to prohibit inquiry than to furnish evi- 
dence. 

The doctrine that a piece of bread could be 
changed into the Lord Jesus Christ by a few 
words of a priest was certainly startling to com- 
mon sense where common sense was free. A 
little education and thinking did that service. 
With some timidity, no doubt, was that step 
taken by most people in the first instance. 
When common sense began to assert her 
view of the case, the next care was to know 
what Scripture said about it. And when the 
discovery was made that Scripture and com- 
mon sense were on the same side, it be- 
came impossible to believe a doctrine which 
19 



29O THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

contradicted both. The only remaining argu- 
ment by which to maintain it was that of force. 
If men could not be reasoned into belief, they 
might be intimidated into compliance. 

That although all men are wicked, yet all 
who are in the Catholic Church will be saved 
some time, through the merits of the Saviour, 
is entirely consistent with both Scripture and 
good sense. But what it was to be in the 
Catholic Church admitted of discussion, and 
the time when to be saved left a terrible gap 
open. That gap was bridged over, in the fif- 
teenth century as in many foregoing centuries, 
in an ingenious mechanical way, thus : Christ 
saves all Catholics from eternal punishment, 
but each one of them must meet the account 
for his own actual sins, and suffer the penalty 
in this life or in the intermediate state. That 
suffering may be of any conceivable duration 
before the day of judgment. Fortunately, there 
had been some men and women so holy as to 
have credit for more good works than they 
needed for their own salvation. Upon death 
they went straight to heaven, and their surplus 
o-oodness was there collected in a common 
treasury, a sort of bank of deposit, which was 
safely locked that none of it might escape use- 
lessly. The key of that treasury of merit was 
put into the hands of the pope, and to him be- 
longed the right to draw from it at pleasure for 



TRUTH AND ERROR. 29 1 

his own use or the use of others. By apply- 
ing to imperfectly sanctified souls as much of 
that hoarded merit as was needed to make up 
their deficit, they could be at once prepared 
to ascend to heaven, even from the flames of 
purgatory. Or a limited amount of the treas- 
ure could be conferred upon a living sinner to 
do away with a corresponding amount of sin. 
The pope had only to draw his check upon the 
bank of heaven in favor of the person who ap- 
plied for it, and the paper would be honored 
by St. Peter. A very neatly-jointed doctrine 
was that, complete and harmonious in itself — a 
perfect beauty of construction. To men who 
never concerned themselves to look into the 
solidity of its foundations, or the truth of its 
several parts, it was entirely credible — as easy 
to believe in as the Bank of England. 

But there was an addition made to it, in the 
sixteenth century, perfectly consistent with the 
symmetry of the rest, which brought it too 
closely into practical comparison with affairs 
of the business world : that was the reason- 
able condition that the pope should receive 
some compensation for his trouble. Consist- 
ently, he ought to have been content with a 
percentage of the treasure he was dealing in ; 
but he preferred earthly cash, and sent out his 
agents to sell his bonds for what they would 
bring — an inexpedient measure, forcing the 



292 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

whole doctrine into the sphere of ordinary 
business, and upon the common sense of the 
public, where common sense was at home. 
The factitious character of the papal proceed- 
ing in the case could not escape the detection 
of minds moderately well educated, and free 
enough to think their own thoughts. To ex- 
amine the doctrine from that point of view was 
to disintegrate it, and to call every element of 
it into question. Some of those elements were 
assumed above the sphere of common sense. 
It became necessary to find out if they were 
contained in the Scriptures. Upon seeking for 
them in vain in that quarter, belief in them 
vanished and the whole structure ceased to be 
credible. 

While the public mind was extensively occu- 
pied with such inquiries, a great impulse was 
given to the publication of the Bible, and to 
the translation of it into various languages. In 
Scotland the translation made by Wycliff was 
as accessible as in England, and books pre- 
senting the substance of Scripture doctrine, 
facts and truth in a popular manner were wide- 
ly published. Some of Sir David Lindsay's 
poems were of that nature. The conviction 
was becoming more common also that Holy 
Scripture was the only rule of faith and of 
practical religion. 

While this process was going on among the 



TRUTH AND ERROR. 293 

laity in general and a few of the clergy, the 
greater number of the latter went on in the 
old way, creating their god, holding him up 
for adoration, and then eating him, pardoning 
sins and taking their pay for it, and so on, as 
if no light had been breaking in about them. 
Respect began to withdraw from their prac- 
tices. People - treated the errors, which they 
saw through, according to their disposition and 
mental enlightenment. Some ridiculed them ; 
others indignantly censured the then existing 
system of religion as one of impudent false- 
hood ; while others reasoned against it out of 
Scripture, proving that wherein the Church 
differed from Scripture it was in the wrong. 

The clergy, who made no denial of the com- 
monness of immorality among men of their 
order, nor defence of the abuses whereof they 
were charged, had their own way of explaining 
and defending their doctrines. To the really 
believing Catholic priest the internal consist- 
ency of his doctrines was sufficient satisfaction, 
because the Church was the authority for the 
truth of all its ingredients. His mind was not 
free to go beyond the supreme decision of the 
Church. Scripture, to his mind, meant only 
what the Church determined it to mean. The 
Church was to him the interpreter of Scripture. 
Beyond that traditional interpretation he could 
not go. He might read the Bible as well as 



294 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

others, but in reading it his mind was overawed 
by a greater and supreme authority. Accord- 
ingly, there were Catholics who believed the 
doctrines and practices of the Church as hon- 
estly as many disbelieved them. 

The parties were soon arrayed around two 
great centres respectively, the traditional judg- 
ments of the Church on one side, and Scripture, 
as addressing the individual judgment, on the 
other. The controversy became one of doc- 
trine. Priests could hear their faults reproved, 
and content themselves with promising meas- 
ures of amendment, but to attack their doctrines 
was fatally to damage the whole system to which 
they belonged. Moreover, on this question the 
parties did not occupy a common ground of con- 
troversy. Though both accepting Scripture, it 
was in an entirely different way. The priests 
admitted no other but church interpretation, but 
they could not impress that upon men who felt 
the force of the grammatical and logical inter- 
pretation. What, then, was to be done to stop 
the progress of increasing dissent ? In reality, 
the hierarchy were reduced to the last argu- 
ment of force, if they were to make any resist- 
ance at all. Some good, well-meaning men 
among them did attempt other means. In- 
struction for the people, in such doctrines of 
the Catholic Church, in such a way as seemed 
most likely to win back to her fold those who 



TRUTH AND ERROR. 295 

had not too far gone astray, was provided in 
the Aberdeen Breviary and Archbishop Hamil- 
ton's Catechism, but not until too late — not un- 
til the nation had been hopelessly alienated by 
severities of persecution never to be forgotten, 
not until Reformation instruction had gone far 
beyond the capacity of Catholic lessons. 

Touching other matters, criticism, ridicule, in- 
dignation, even hatred, might assail the hierar- 
chy without provoking more than a warning, 
perhaps might be appeased with an apology ; 
but on the subject of doctrine the conflict was 
deadly. No penalty was deemed adequate to 
the guilt of heresy but the appalling death by 
fire, which represented the punishment of the 
damned. 



CHAPTER IV. 

JOHN MAJOR. 

IN the year 1523, John Major, who had been 
for several years a professor in the Univer- 
sity of Glasgow, was transferred to St. Andrews. 
It was his fortune to be concerned in educating 
and giving particular bent to the minds of cer- 
tain youth who were to be leaders in the great 
coming revolution. In his classes at Glasgow 
he had seen John Knox, and in those at St. 
Andrews he met George Buchanan. Their in- 
debtedness to him was subsequently acknowl- 
edged by both. Patrick Hamilton, Henry Bal- 
navis, and others who defended the same cause, 
came also under his influence. Whether Knox 
followed his teacher to St. Andrews or not, he 
was soon after associated in study with the illus- 
trious group connected with that university. 

John Major was one of those men whose 
personal influence far exceeds the value of any 
contribution made by them to the sum of human 
knowledge or wisdom. It is a gift of Nature not 
to be lightly esteemed — that by which impres- 
siveness is given to commonplace learning and 
to wisdom and virtue, the inheritance of ages. It 

296 



JOHN MAJOR. 297 

js a power. There are men whose affluence of 
thought is practically boundless, and whose orig- 
inality is ever turning up new aspects of things, 
who yet, in their own lifetime, never secure an 
average respect for their opinions or their per- 
sons. They walk among common men with so 
little mark of their greatness about them that 
every one feels himself in some respects, and 
especially as a common-sense man, their supe- 
rior. Yet the world will read what they write, 
or listen with the most interested attention to 
their reported sayings, or behold the material 
fruits of their genius with admiration, and when 
they have personally disappeared for ever the 
place they have left grows bigger in the eyes 
of succeeding generations. Such men are like 
preachers with a poor delivery. The sermon is 
well prepared, it is even superior in richness of 
instruction, but the preacher seems to take little 
interest in it, seems to think that there is noth- 
ing of importance in it ; and his hearers take it 
at his own estimate. Or they are like a good 
book in the hands of a helpless publisher, who 
prints it, and stows it away, to let it take its 
chance ; enterprising research may find it some 
time. On the other hand, the world is largely 
indebted to men who have the power of delivery 
— men who can set themselves and their instruc- 
tions in such a light that the world will recog- 
nize them for what they are. The multitude of 



298 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

mankind are not discoverers, and need to be 
impressed with its value before they can think 
anything worth looking into. It is well that 
there are some men of that impressive person- 
ality which propitiates respect. They are not 
sources of thought ; they are invaluable reser- 
voirs of force. The man who takes the sermon 
which was smothered in birth by its author, and 
with it thrills the hearts of all who hear him, 
has inspired it with the new life of his own 
personality. 

John Major was certainly a power in his day. 
Without any great reach of thought or origi- 
nating capacity or attractions of literary style, 
he made an impression upon the youth who 
attended his instructions, and established for 
himself the weight of an authority in church 
matters, even over men of greater originality 
than himself. Having lectured in Paris, as well 
as in the highest seats of learning in Scotland, 
his reputation became quite extended. His 
published commentaries on Scripture, or on the 
celebrated Books of Sentences, may be of little 
or no practical value ; the topics on which he 
loves to dilate may be, in some cases, utterly 
useless, and the style in which he writes, dry 
and barren; his history of Scotland may have 
nothing to recommend it, either in original re- 
search or literary attractions ; and yet that is 
not enough to justify us in discrediting the 



JOHN MAJOR. 299 

effects he is said to have produced. Those 
effects were of a kind which go to make up a 
great part of the character of a successful 
teacher, who has necessarily more to do with 
already known truth than with original discov- 
ery ; more to do with making things clear to 
the understanding than attractive to the fancy ; 
more to do with instilling into the young mind 
that which will help to put it on a par with the 
already educated, than with exploring new fields 
of science or research ; more to do with the 
tongue than the pen. He was a faithful Cath- 
olic, and an advocate of papalism, who defend- 
ed some of its absurdest tenets with arguments 
on which only a servile superstition could lean. 
He had been trained in the scholastic theology, 
and adhered scrupulously to its minute and 
shallow method of reasoning ; and readers of 
his works testify that their drudgery has been 
but scantily repaid with a grain of truth now 
and then from pages of rubbish. And yet 
when some of those grains amounted to doc- 
tines learned in the school where Gerson and 
D'Ailly had taught, they could not be without 
weight upon the minds of youth ardently pur- 
suing knowledge in the beginning of the six- 
teenth century. 

Major was born in the neighborhood of 
North Berwick in the year 1469. He studied 
at Oxford and Cambridge, but for longer time 



300 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

in Paris, where he also began his career as a lec- 
turer. After holding a professorship in Glas- 
gow for a few years, he returned to Paris, but 
came back to Glasgow to accept the situation 
of principal and professor of theology in the 
university there. In 1523 he removed to the 
chair of philosophy and theology in St. An- 
drews, where he was still residing in 1547. 
The greater part of his education had been, 
received in France, the country which had been 
among the first and the loudest in demanding a 
regular and authoritative reformation of eccle- 
siastical abuses, and where the reforms of the 
Council of Basel were still in force. It needed 
little originality for a pupil of Gallicanism in 
those days to apprehend the doctrine that a 
general council was superior to a pope, and 
competent to bring him to trial, subject him to 
censure or depose him from office. The new 
professor at St. Andrews also denied the tem- 
poral supremacy of the pope, and that he had 
any right to set up and put down princes. Ec- 
clesiastical censures, even papal excommunica- 
tion, he declared to be of no force, unless pro- 
nounced for sufficient reasons. Tithes in the 
Christian Church, he taught, were not of divine 
but human appointment. He hesitated not to 
censure the extravagance and vices of the pa- 
pal and episcopal style of living, and the evils 
undeniable among the monkish orders, and " ad- 



JOHN MAJOR. 301 

vised the reduction of monasteries." Still more 
radical was the doctrine he held concerning the 
civil ruler — that a king, though superior to any 
one of his subjects, is not superior to them as 
a whole, in their capacity as a nation — that if he 
rules to the injury of his people he may be law- 
fully controlled by them, deposed or prosecuted 
to capital punishment. 

On none of these points was Major an orig- 
inating teacher ; but the position which he occu- 
pied at Glasgow, and afterward at St. Andrews, 
and his own personal character, conferred upon 
them a great weight of importance in the eyes 
of those to whom they were addressed, and to 
whom they were really novel. Some of them 
proved to be seeds planted in soil where they 
were subsequently to develop into a growth 
which the teacher perhaps never anticipated. 
They were only related to religion, but the pro- 
mulgation of them in Scotland, at that juncture, 
suggested or sustained opinions and expecta- 
tions without which the Reformation could not 
have been effected. 

Statesmen and impoverished nobility had long 
been looking with jealous eyes upon the wealth 
and power of churchmen, which they saw in- 
creasing at their own expense. Ideas of repri- 
sals had crossed their minds, but a ground of 
justification, by which a party could sustain it- 
self, was lacking. The ecclesiastical laws were 



302 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

dangerous to brave, and they were yoked with 
those of the realm. The civil authorities had 
sometimes been constrained to bow before 
them. Now, here comes a great doctor in 
theology, laden with the learning of the uni- 
versities of England and France, who teaches 
that the Church has no right to subordinate the 
civil government; that even the pope is amen- 
able to a council, and may be deposed if guilty 
of great sin ; that the corruption prevailing 
among bishops and monks is very great, and 
that of the monastic orders, at least, is such 
that it might be a righteous act to diminish the 
number of their houses. Such doctrine, distrib- 
uted by various channels, found docile listeners 
among men exasperated by long-contiued ag- 
gressions from the clerical side. It prepared 
the way for many worldly men to join the grow- 
ing Reformation interest — men who looked only 
to the transfer of power and property. It pre- 
pared political or family parties to regard the 
change of religion favorably, in the light of 
policy. 

But, above all else that it effected, the teach- 
ing of the learned professor started a few of his 
own zealous pupils, at the head of whom were 
George Buchanan and John Knox, on a course 
of thinking destined to sift the rights of all 
powers and potentates of earth, and even to 
try the spirits whether they were of God. 



CHAPTER V. 

PATRICK HAMILTON. 

MANY things combined to urge forward the 
Reformation in Scotland. It was not sin- 
gly prompted by religious motives, not singly 
by moral considerations, nor by oppression, nor 
by jealousy of foreign influence and alienation 
of native resources ; politics also entered, as 
inevitably they will in all national affairs, and 
the cupidity of covetous men, eager to avail 
themselves of all changes to advance their own 
gains. Yet, after all, the hinge of the whole 
controversy was Christian doctrine. But for 
that, it would never have reached to a revo- 
lution. Evils encrusted upon the church sys- 
tem might have been removed without break- 
ing down the system, and might have left it in 
a better condition to hold its own. But the life 
of the system, and all that could give it rever- 
ence in the eyes of intelligent adherents, was 
doctrine. If that should prove corrupt, no re- 
form of anything else could save it. To con- 
tend for that was to do battle for existence. It 
was that which evoked the apprehensions and 

303 



304 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

hatred of the hierarchy. To attack doctrine 
was to incur the most terrible of penalties. 
For that had Resby, Craw and others in Scot- 
land, and a great number in England, perished 
in the flames. 

Those early martyrs for the Reformation, un- 
sustained by numbers, disappeared in darkness. 
By the multitude they were regarded as the 
worst of criminals, and the instructed few were 
discouraged by their fate — discouraged from put- 
ting forth effort publicly in the cause. A change, 
notwithstanding, was going on, and in the first 
quarter of the sixteenth century it advanced with 
accelerating rapidity. 

So far, executions for religion's sake had been 
few in Scotland as compared with those of 
England and France. The long endurance of 
the Scottish people had procured them a repu- 
tation for adherence to the Romish faith. But 
endurance awaited only satisfactory conviction. 
Printed translations of the Scriptures began with 
the year 1526, by the cheapness of their price, to 
bring the admitted standard of religion within 
reach of all who could read the common tongue 
of England and the Scottish Lowlands. Books 
written in Latin by the continental Reformers 
began also to arrive from Germany, producing 
their immediate effects upon the better educa- 
ted. Great numbers, high and low, were found 
prepared to receive the new instruction with 



PATRICK HAMILTON. 305 

avidity. The feeling after truth, which had for 
at least three generations been extending from 
the well-educated to the less-educated laity by 
means of popular tales, poems, songs, dramas 
and private conversation, eagerly grasped at 
any portion of the Holy Scriptures offered in 
the spoken tongue, while trained thinkers con- 
sulted with anxiety the doctrinal statements of 
Reformed theologians of other lands. The 
party opposed to reform were aware of the 
danger to their cause from that quarter. Par- 
liament, July 17, 1525, passed an act prohibiting 
the importation of the books of Luther or of 
his disciples into Scotland, which, it was claimed, 
had hitherto been always " clene of all sic filth 
and vice " — not quite so clean, however, as the 
act presumed, as had appeared, at a date long 
prior to Luther's appearance, in the articles and 
association of the Lollards of Kyle ; while at 
the very date of the act John Major, on the 
north side of the Forth, was announcing, in the 
hearing of young and appreciative auditors, cer- 
tain doctrines of popular freedom and sovereign- 
ty which, although not expressly religious, need- 
ed only to be carried consistently into practice 
to shake the foundations of the existing relig- 
ious government at its centre, and subject its 
minister, the civil arm, to the will of the people. 
One of those young contemporaries was soon 

afterward on his way to Germany to listen to 
20 



306 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the great Saxon Reformer in his own lecture- 
room. 

Patrick Hamilton, of the noble family of that 
name, a nephew of the earl of Arran by his 
father, and of the duke of Albany by his moth- 
er, and through both related to the royal fam- 
ily, was born in 1 504. Designed by his parents 
for the Church, he was endowed with the ab- 
bacy of Feme while yet a child. His educa- 
tion was certainly of the best order belonging 
to the times. By some of the means of instruc- 
tion then multiplying in the land, before he was 
twenty-two years old he had acquired intelli- 
gence of the work going on in Germany. In 
company with three attendants he undertook a 
journey to Wittenberg. Luther and Melanch- 
thon were greatly pleased with him, and when, 
after studying with them for a time, he left 
them, recommended him to the university re- 
cently established at Marburg by Philip, land- 
grave of Hesse. At the head of that institu- 
tion was Francis Lambert, a Reformed theolo- 
gian from Avignon, in whom Hamilton found 
a warm friend and a faithful instructor. 1 While 
diligently enlarging his knowledge of Reformed 
doctrine and of Holy Scripture he was smitten 
with a zealous desire to explain the way of sal- 
vation to his countrymen. Not ignorant of the 
danger which awaited such an enterprise, and 

1 Lambert cT Avignon, par Louis Ruffet, prof. h. Geneve. 



PA TRICK HAMIL TON. Z°7 

which Lambert also set before him, he resolved 
that, for the end in view, it must be encounter- 
ed. Attended by only one of the companions 
who had left Scotland with him, he returned in 
the latter part of 1527. 

Young Hamilton's preaching was with fervor 
and tenderness, setting forth the doctrines of 
the gospel. Nor did he shrink from exposing 
the errors of the Romish Church and the vices 
which had crept into the practices of the clergy. 
Many recognized and accepted the truth which 
he preached, while they loved him for his gen- 
tle and courteous deportment toward all sorts 
of people. Entirely free from violence, he was 
full of warmth in proclaiming the message of 
salvation. The treatise which he wrote to ex- 
pound the articles of religion popularly shows 
remarkable clearness of thinking, and skill in 
putting truth in a brief and forcible way, in a 
spirit of tenderness. Knox valued it so highly 
that he copied the whole of it into his history. 

A very brief time was allowed him for the 
work of preaching. The clergy of St. An- 
drews were alarmed. He was enticed to visit 
their city. When he arrived, a friar, Alexan- 
der Campbell, was appointed to visit and hold 
conversation with him. Campbell, professing 
to have a leaning to the same way of thinking, 
succeeded in obtaining a knowledge of the dif- 
ferent points of his belief, admitting for his own 



308 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

part, what no one ventured fully to deny, that 
in many things the state of the Church needed 
to be reformed. Hamilton was left without 
suspicion of danger until he was apprehended 
by night, taken from his bed and carried pris- 
oner to the castle. Next day he was charged 
before the primate with holding and preaching 
heresy. A long list of doctrines were present- 
ed to him, on which he was called to express 
his belief. The first seven he held to be un- 
doubtedly true, and was willing to subscribe. 
The rest, he said, were disputable, but such as 
he could not condemn without having better 
reason than he had yet heard. 

The whole list was then committed to the 
judgment of a council consisting of the rector 
and the heads of the Black and Grey Friars 
and two lawyers. After a day or two, these 
men rendered a report in which they condemn- 
ed the whole list of articles as heretical and 
contrary to the faith of the Church. Sentence 
was accordingly pronounced against Patrick 
Hamilton, giving him over to the secular pow- 
er to suffer the penalty of heresy. 

The seven points which he fully professed to 
believe, and for which he suffered, were — 

i. Man hath no free will. 

2. A man is only justified by faith in Christ. 

3. A man, so long as he liveth, is not with- 
out sin. 



PATRICK HAMILTON. 309 

4. He is not worthy to be called a Christian 
who believeth not that he is in grace. 

5. A good man doeth good works; good 
works do not make a good man. 

6. An evil man bringeth forth evil works ; 
evil works, being faithfully repented of, do not 
make an evil man. 

7. Faith, hope and charity be so linked to- 
gether that one of them cannot be without 
another, in one man, in this life. 

To us of the present day it is amazing that 
the holding of such opinions should ever have 
justified, in the minds of any men, capital pun- 
ishment, and that of the most appalling kind. 

On that occasion the primate, James Beaton, 
was assisted by the archbishop of Glasgow, 
three bishops, six heads of monastic houses 
and eight other ecclesiastics, who all set their 
signatures to the sentence. To give it the 
greater weight, all persons who were of any 
estimation in the university were required to 
subscribe it. The act was an act of the Cath- 
olic Church of Scotland through her highest 
authorities. 

On the same day Hamilton was condemned 
by the civil judge, and in the afternoon led out 
to execution. The process was hastened, to 
prevent interference on the part of the king, 
who was then absent on a pilgrimage. The 
place of execution was in the public street be- 



310 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

fore the gate of St. Salvator's College. When 
he arrived there, Hamilton, with a gentle delib- 
eration, put off his gown, bonnet, coat and some 
other articles of apparel, and gave them to his 
servant, saying, " These will not profit in the 
fire, but they will profit thee. After this, of me 
thou canst receive no commoditie, except from 
the example of my death, which, I pray thee, 
beare in mind ; for albeit it be bitter to the 
flesh and feirefull before men, yett it is the en- 
trance into eternall life, which none shall pos- 
sesse that deny Christ Jesus before this wicked 
o-eneration." 

While being tied to the stake, about which 
a great quantity of combustible material was 
piled, he kept his eyes steadily turned toward 
heaven. The attendants were awkward in 
kindling the fire. While they delayed he ad- 
dressed some words to the spectators, but was 
interrupted by the monks, especially by Friar 
Campbell, calling to him to recant and to pray 
to the Virgin Mary. He answered by saying 
to Campbell that he knew he was not a heretic, 
and that it was the truth of God for which he 
suffered, and appealing to the judgment-seat 
of Christ. When the fire at last was kindled 
he was heard to say in a clear voice, " How 
long, O Lord, shall darkness oppress this 
realm ? How long wilt thou suffer this tyran- 
ny of men ?" He then closed with the words, 



PATRICK HAMILTON. 3II 

"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." His body 
was quickly consumed, for the fire was strong. 

Great feeling was evinced by the spectators, 
and many did not fear to say that they believed 
Hamilton to be an innocent man and a martyr 
for Christ. People also remarked afterward 
that Friar Alexander Campbell never was the 
same man after that day, but became moody, 
" fell into a fit of frenzy," and died wretchedly 
within less than a year. 

It was a mistaken policy, on the part of the 
hierarchy, that atrocious execution. The con- 
spicuousness of the victim, instead of carrying 
intimidation abroad, which they counted on, ex- 
cited the more extensive inquiry. Over the 
length and breadth of Scotland flashed the 
startling question, " Why was Patrick Hamil- 
ton burned ?" An intelligent and satisfactory 
answer could not be given without a statement 
of some Reformed doctrine. The most pow- 
erful sermon Patrick Hamilton was destined 
to preach was his own burning in the streets 
of St. Andrews. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CARDINAL BEATON. 

AMONG the many tongues set in motion by 
the burning of Patrick Hamilton, not a few 
were heard in St. Andrews itself, and some were 
those of clergymen. To speak freely of heresy 
and withhold condemnation of it, or to express 
sympathy with those who suffered for it, was 
dangerous. But among men who thought alike, 
and felt that they could trust each other, a cer- 
tain freedom of utterance was indulged, and that 
in some places where it might least have been 
expected. In St. Leonard's College, under the 
example of its principal, Gavin Logie, students 
discussed the doctrines of Reformers with a lack 
of disapproval which brought suspicion upon 
themselves, and gave rise to the saying, about 
one who might allow a sentence of question- 
able orthodoxy to escape him, that he had been 
"drinking at St. Leonard's Well." The opin- 
ions thus privately agitated in St. Andrews were, 
in the course of a few years, scattered over the 
country wherever those young men resided, 
and took to themselves inevitable publicity. 

312 



CARDINAL BEATON. 313 

Five years later, Gavin Logie, like some 
others, found it expedient to escape beyond 
the bounds of Scotland. 

A similar spirit made its way among the 
monks of the Dominican and Franciscan or- 
ders in St. Andrews, and, by connivance of the 
sub-prior, John Winram, among the novices of 
the abbey. Some of the friars began, before 
the year of Hamiliton's execution was over, to 
" preach publicly against the pride and idle life 
of the bishops, and against the abuses of the 
whole ecclesiastical state." But the bishops 
were also aroused, and suspiciously watchful. 
Censure of their practices, which once would 
have been dismissed with a jest, was now re- 
garded as indicative of a deeper design or of 
lurking heresy. It henceforth became danger- 
ous to expose the vices of the clergy. Although 
death could be lawfully inflicted only for heret- 
ical doctrine, it might be possible to make out a 
charge of heresy against a man from his assaults 
upon clerical character, which would be sustained 
by an ecclesiastical tribunal. 

One Friar William preached at Dundee a ser- 
mon in which he exposed the licentiousness of 
bishops — perhaps not more severely than had 
been done before, but they were not now dis- 
posed to bear it. The bishop of Brechin had 
his retainers in hand, who fell upon the monk 
and beat him as being a heretic. Friar William 



3H THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

went to St. Andrews and consulted John Major 
on the subject of his sermon. The learned 
professor assured him that his doctrine was all 
right, and might well be defended. The friar 
resolved to repeat the sermon at head-quarters, 
and had notice given to that effect. So, in the 
great church of St. Andrews, before a large au- 
dience, including several of the ecclesiastical 
dignitaries, he rediscussed the clergy and their 
desecration of the most holy things, as of ex- 
communication — or, as it was called, " cursing" 
— and of miracles, with a rough humor which 
subjected them to ridicule. 

Once more he ventured on the theme, and 
took for his text "The Abbot of Unreason." 
The real prelates of their day, he told the peo- 
ple, were as regardless of divine law as that 
farcical hero of their own revels ; and he took 
occasion to relate some very indelicate stories 
about prelates then alive. He withheld prop- 
er names, but some of the parties happened to 
be well known. That treatment of the subject 
proved too serious for laughter, and the preach- 
er, to save his life, fled into England ; yet Friar 
William was no Protestant, as was subsequent- 
ly proved by his imprisonment under Henry 
VIII. for papalism. 

A more dignified opposition to prevailing 
errors was made by Alexander Seton, a high- 
ly respected monk of the Dominican order, or 



CARDINAL BEATON. 3 I 5 

Black Friars. Through the whole of Lent, suc- 
ceeding the execution of Hamilton, he preached 
on the Ten Commandments, exposing not only 
actual vice, but the errors of doctrine which led 
to or justified it. He insisted especially " that 
the law of God is the only rule of righteous- 
ness ; that if God's law be not violated, no sin 
is committed ; that it is not in man's power to 
satisfy for sin ; that the forgiveness of sin is not 
otherwise purchased than by unfeigned repent- 
ance, true faith apprehending the mercy of God 
in Christ." Of purgatory, pilgrimages, prayers 
to saints and priestly pardon, or indulgences, 
he made no mention. Opposition was arrayed 
against him. One of the same monastic order 
was, during his absence from St. Andrews, set 
up to counteract his preaching. He returned 
to defend his ground, but was reported to the 
archbishop, who sent for him and took him to 
task for saying that a bishop should be a 
preacher, and that bishops who did not preach 
were dumb dogs. Seton replied that his re- 
porters had misrepresented him — that the say- 
ings referred to were not his, but contained in 
passages he had quoted from Isaiah and St. 
Paul. The archbishop was annoyed by feel- 
ing that he had exposed his own ignorance of 
Scripture, but perceived that the ground he had 
chosen could not sustain him in a prosecution. 
Seton was dismissed. But being also confessor 



3l6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

to the king, Seton discovered soon that the coun- 
tenance of His Majesty was changed toward 
him and withdrew to Berwick, whence he wrote 
a full explanation to the king. Receiving no 
answer to his letter, he went on to London, 
where he became chaplain to the duke of Suf- 
folk, and in that capacity continued until his 
death. 

About the same time Henry Forest, a young 
man of the order of Bennet and Collet, had 
been heard to say that Patrick Hamilton had 
died a martyr. A friar was appointed to con- 
fess him, to whom he acknowledged that he 
thought " Master Patrick a good man, and that 
the articles for which he was condemned might 
well be defended." This confession, being re- 
vealed to the archbishop, was deemed sufficient 
evidence against him. He was forthwith con- 
demned as a heretic. While they were con- 
sulting about the place of execution, where it 
would be most conspicuous and strike terror 
into the greatest number, John Lindsay, a plain 
layman, advised that if they burned any more 
people they should burn them in a cellar; 
" For," said he, " the smoke of Master Patrick 
Hamilton had infected all on whom it blew." 

Among those arrested about that time for 
heresy we find a brother and a sister of Ham- 
ilton. But both escaped, through favor of the 
king toward them as kindred. 



CARDINAL BEATON. 3 1 7 

The intensity of persecution relaxed for a 
few years after the death of Henry Forest, 
caused partly by the intestine wars between 
several great families, and finally between the 
king and Douglas, earl of Angus, in which the 
earl was, after a long defence, worsted and 
driven into exile. 

In Scotland the number of victims was far 
short of what it was in some countries on the 
Continent, or in England, in the reign of Mary ; 
but in the twelve years succeeding 1528 it was 
great enough to appall and exasperate a na- 
tion to which such executions had hitherto been 
little known. They resulted in heaping pop- 
ular detestation upon those who conducted 
them, and on the Church which they were de- 
signed to defend. But the principal object of 
censure and abhorrence was the primate, by 
whose signature the whole array of those cruel- 
ties was sanctioned. And yet James Beaton 
was a man who in circumstances less unfavor- 
able might have earned the praise of wisdom 
and humanity. Descended of an ancient Nor- 
man family deriving its name from the town 
of Bethune in Artois, and whose residence 
in Scotland dated back at least as far as the 
thirteenth century, he enjoyed every facility of 
education which the country could afford. In 
youth he evinced great natural talents, and his 
career proved to be one of remarkable sue- 



3l8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

cess. Having entered the University of St. 
Andrews in 1487, he received his master's de- 
gree in 1492. In 1497 ne was presented to 
the chantry of Caithness ; in 1 503 he was made 
provost of the collegiate church of Bothwell 
and prior of Whithorn ; in 1 504 he was made 
abbot of Dunfermline ; in 1 505 he was lord 
treasurer of Scotland; in 1508 he was made 
bishop of Galloway ; within a year, promoted 
to the metropolitanate of Glasgow, he resigned 
the office of treasurer; in 151 3 he was chan- 
cellor of the kingdom, and secured to himself 
the rich abbacies of Arbroath and Kilwinning ; 
and in 1522, on the death of Andrew Forman, 
he was elevated to the primacy in St. Andrews, 
which he retained until his death. On succeed- 
ing to the primacy he resigned the commenda- 
tory of Arbroath in favor of his nephew, Da- 
vid Beaton, reserving to himself half of its 
revenue. Dunfermline and Kilwinning he re- 
tained. 

The execution of Patrick Hamilton was an 
act in which he was certainly the principal 
mover, and for which he was highly commend- 
ed by Catholic theologians. A letter from the 
theological faculty of Louvain exalted it with 
the highest praise. If human approbation 
could have satisfied his conscience, he had all 
that he valued most among his fellow-men. 
But he does not seem to have been satisfied. 



CARDIXAL BEATON. 319 

For, after the mortifying interview with Alex- 
ander Seton and the death of Henry Forest, 
it appears that he never was forward in seek- 
ing out or instituting proceedings against here- 
tics, though he sanctioned the conduct of others 
more zealous in proceeding against them. In 
the place he occupied perhaps he could not con- 
sistently do less, however he may have felt 
about his own former atrocities. The more 
impetuous Catholics thought he had become 
lax and not very solicitous about the Church, 
how its affairs might prosper. 

Archbishop Beaton has been credited on both 
sides with being " a very prudent man." Oth- 
ers, using less complimentary language, repre- 
sented him as crafty — " a fox," who among 
furious political parties, Scottish and English, 
so sagaciously " fled from hole to hole that he 
could not be apprehended." The remark im- 
plies that he had also his hardships and many 
enemies. And the hands of some of those 
enemies he did not always succeed in eluding. 
The Reformers disliked him, but they were not 
yet organized sufficiently to constitute a dan- 
gerous party. 

In the responsible place which he held at 
a time when dissatisfaction w r ith the Catholic 
Church was beginning to break out in public 
protest, James Beaton, if not cruel and intol- 
erant by nature — of which his contemporaries, 



320 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

even leading Reformers, do not accuse him — 
was unfortunate in the tasks demanded of him, 
and in the men with whom he was associated 
and who acted in his name. By his death, in 
1539, the ecclesiastical sovereignty came into 
the hands of one about whose character there 
is no question, and who never gave any sign 
that charity could construe into a scruple of 
conscience. 

By the calamity at Flodden a sudden revolu- 
tion was wrought in the government of Scot- 
land. In one day the country lost her king, 
with the leaders of her councils, and a new gen- 
eration of nobility came into power. The heir 
of the throne was a child of one year old, and 
in Parliament the places of the old members 
were filled with comparative youth. Queen 
Margaret was looked to as the proper regent 
in the minority of her son. But in less than a 
year she married, and thereby changed her re- 
lations to the kingdom. Her new husband was 
the young nobleman who, by the death of his fa- 
ther at Flodden, succeeded his grandfather as the 
earl of Angus. Jealousies at once arose. That 
a Douglas should by marriage seize on the pow- 
ers of regency could not be quietly tolerated by 
the rivals of that family. A motion was made 
in Parliament to transfer the regency to Alex- 
ander Stewart, the duke of Albany, uncle of 
the young king's father. Albany, then living in 



CARDINAL BEATON. 32 1 

France in the enjoyment of great wealth and 
honor as high admiral of the kingdom, came to 
Scotland with much reluctance, discharged the 
duties of regent a little over a year, and re- 
turned to his adopted country. He left a 
French gentleman, De la Bastie, in high place 
to see to his interests during his absence. But 
Parliament appointed as colleagues in the re- 
gency the two archbishops, with the earls of 
Angus, Huntly, Arran and Argyll. 

Albany, by his French affectations, his alien 
manners and airs of superiority, had disgusted 
the Scottish people, both noble and common. 
The conduct of the men whom he had brought 
with him, with whom he had garrisoned three 
of the strongest places in the kingdom, and by 
some of whom he preferred to be attended, in- 
tensified that feeling. During his absence some 
dispute, leading to fighting and bloodshed, took 
place toward the English border. De la Bas- 
tie went with a small number of followers to 
reduce it. The' parties turned against him as a 
foreign intruder. He took to flight, but in a 
marsh was overtaken and killed. No person 
was legally tried for the violence. 

The duke did not return to Scotland until af- 
ter the lapse of five years. His unpopularity 
was greater than before, and was beginning to 
extend to the country of his preference. A 

check was put upon that tendency by a false 
21 



322 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

step of Henry VIII. of England, who issued a 
threatening demand to the Scots to send Al- 
bany back to France or he would make war 
upon them. For the time they felt constrained 
to rally round the unpopular regent to maintain 
their own dignity. Raising a large and well- 
equipped army, they marched to the border to 
encounter the expected invasion. Henry, how- 
ever, was not prepared for war. The " insult- 
ing demand " was withdrawn, and the cloud 
blew over. 

The duke of Albany soon after went back to 
France of his own wish. But hostilities again 
broke out on the English border. Albany re- 
turned with a French fleet and a few thousand 
troops. It was well for France to keep the 
arms of England employed in that quarter. 
He landed in September, 1523. The cam- 
paign was conducted feebly, and in May of 
the next year he left his native land, never to 
return. His foreign followers went with him. 

One effect of this unwilling and interrupted 
administration was to strengthen, both directly 
and indirectly, a party which was gradually form- 
ing itself in favor of friendly relations with Eng- 
land. But for the headlong and foolish meas- 
ures of Henry VIII., which sometimes defeated 
what he most ardently desired, that party might 
have prospered better than it did. But between 
his impetuous blundering and the artful policy 



CARDINAL BEATON. 323 

of France, sustained by the clergy, to keep 
hold of the Scottish alliance, as a flank move- 
ment upon England, two conflicting parties 
agitated the politics of the northern kingdom. 
Family quarrels intensified and complicated the 
disorder. Some of the nobility betook them- 
selves to England and some to France. Queen 
Margaret had separated from her husband, who 
had also gone abroad. The government for a 
few months was in the hands of churchmen, and 
a duel of artifice took place between Beaton on 
the side of the French interest, and Wolsey to 
secure and promote that of England in Scottish 
politics. After many devices to get the " fox 
of St. Andrews" out of his hole, he was finally 
clutched and put away in prison to keep him 
harmless — too late, however, to suit the designs 
of his adversary. For just then another plot 
was on foot. 

Certain Scottish noblemen, who had no taste 
for either French or English dictation, con- 
ceived that, although their king was still but 
a boy, it would be better to set him on the 
throne, and sustain him by the best advisers 
they could secure, than to live without any 
certain head to the government, even in name, 
exposed to the plots of partisans of foreign in- 
terests. To that measure the queen-mother's 
approval was easily obtained, as well as that 
of her royal brother. Accordingly, James V. 



324 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

commenced his actual reign in the month of 
August, 1524, at the age of twelve years. 
Still, of course, he was but a minor under 
guardianship, and the rivalry of French and 
English machinations, spies and agitators con- 
tinued at the Scottish court. 

In 1526 the king reached the age of four- 
teen, when by law he was free to choose his 
own guardians. He chose his stepfather, the 
earl of Angus, who had now returned to Scot- 
land, and with him the Lords Argyll and Errol. 
It was understood that they were each to have 
charge of their royal ward for three months. 
Angus had his term first, but when it expired 
he refused to resign. Attempts were made to 
compel him, and battles were fought. But 
Douglas proved the stronger. At the end of 
about two years the young king planned his 
own escape, and with only two attendants fled 
from his watchful guardian. The legitimate 
powers of the nation sustained him. Douglas 
took refuge in his strong castle of Tantallon. 
James, now at the head of an army, besieged 
it, and prosecuted operations until he reduced 
his rebellious stepfather, who again withdrew 
to England. 

It was in the midst of these troubles that 
the burning of Patrick Hamilton took place. 
The young king was too busy with his own 
affairs to have any knowledge of the case of 



CARDINAL BEATON. 325 

heresy. He was on a pilgrimage to the shrine 
of a northern saint when it occurred, and the 
execution was hastened that he might not 
know about it until too late for prevention. 

When Douglas was defeated, the king found 
that he had only begun the conflict with refrac- 
tory chieftains. On the border many held 
themselves to be retainers of Douglas, and 
some had assumed to themselves almost the 
independence of sovereigns. In the High- 
lands, although there was no longer a Norse 
viceroy or a Lord of the Isles strong enough 
to resist the monarchy, the connection of the 
several chieftains with the general government 
had become greatly relaxed, and the peace of 
the whole country was at one time threatened 
from that quarter. The rights of the Crown 
had to be defended against the aggressions of 
aristocratic houses, which, if combined, would 
have outrivaled it in national power. 

The jealousy of James V. toward the nobil- 
ity of his kingdom was thus kept in continual 
activity. To reduce them to order, while he 
guarded the frontiers against the often-recur- 
ring threats of the king of England, occupied 
the most of his reign. 

Meanwhile, the Protestant persuasion was 
making its way among people of all ranks, es- 
pecially the laity. The revolution in England, 
whereby papalism was expelled, added greatly 



326 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

to the motives going to form a Scottish party 
in favor of friendly relations with that country. 
In a few years that became the policy of the 
Protestant party of Scotland, while the Cath- 
olic party, with the bishops at their head, be- 
came more intensely partisans of France. 

James had little favor for the bishops, and 
was not ignorant of the ecclesiastical abuses 
with which every tongue was busy. But the 
bishops needed his support and sought his 
favor, and in his controversy with the nobles 
he could not afford to alienate the clergy also. 
More than once he rescued from their hands 
and saved life endangered by the charge of 
heresy, but there was a limit beyond which he 
could not go in that direction. He was not 
quite sure of the loyalty of the reforming lead- 
ers, some of whom his violence had driven to 
seek the protection of England. Necessity 
called for good terms with the clergy, and the 
clergy clung to the alliance with France. For 
real home-support it was the commons upon 
whom he could most safely rely, but things 
were not prepared for him to break through 
the intervening ranks and put himself at their 
head as a popular leader. They, moreover, 
were also divided, and with many of them nei- 
ther France nor England was much in favor. 

The credit of superior patriotism has been 
claimed for the bishops. It is a poor ground 



CARDINAL BEATON. 327 

for such a claim that they rejected friendly re- 
lations with a neighboring state, in order to 
involve their country in profitless wars for the 
benefit of a far-distant ally, from whom some 
of them actually accepted honors and wealthy 
benefices, or that they resisted alliance with a 
neighbor to retain allegiance to the pope. 

James V. was not a pious man. The exam- 
ples with which he was best acquainted among 
ministers of religion were not of a nature to 
recommend piety. The faithful Alexander Se- 
ton, his confessor for a time, was soon under- 
mined in influence and driven into exile, and 
in the family of his birth the lives of his father, 
his mother and uncle had little to recommend 
virtue except the penalties that follow vice. 
The access which his early companion, Lind- 
say, had to his convictions was chiefly the 
avenue of amusement. Any check put by him 
upon persecution was the dictate of common 
humanity or personal friendship. But the se- 
verities of persecution never proceeded from 
him. 

In his marriages James was also unfortunate. 
The first, in 1536, was a marriage of love, to 
Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. of France, of 
whom, as having lived much under the influence 
of her aunt, the queen of Navarre, favor was 
expected for the reforming party. An early 
death disappointed their hopes. His second 



328 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

marriage, in 1538, was with Mary of Guise, 
daughter of the duke of Lorraine, leader of 
the Romanist party in France. 

At that time and onward, his prime advisers 
were Archbishop Beaton and his accomplished 
but immoral nephew. In spite of himself, the 
king was held in bonds of their policy, which so 
many of the laity detested, and was kept there- 
by in ever-fluctuating animosity with England, 
with whom an increasing party of the laity 
wished to have peace, and his own family in- 
terests rendered it desirable to be on good 
terms. 

By following the advice of his priestly coun- 
selors, he gratuitously made and broke a prom- 
ise to meet his uncle, Henry VIII., in consulta- 
tion at York, thereby incurring that monarch's 
just indignation. War measures followed, with- 
out real war. The Scottish army having reached 
the border, the principal nobility refused to in- 
vade England. James sent forward a large 
detachment, over which he appointed a favorite 
from among the commons. In surprise and 
indignation the whole detachment rose in a 
mob. In that condition they were attacked 
by a small English force under Lord Dacre, 
and scattered without a battle. James, in 
sickness of mortification, withdrew to his pal- 
ace of Falkland, where he languished, without 
any apparent disease, until he died, on the 14th 



CARDINAL BEATON. 329 

of December, 1542. Mary, his only surviving 
legitimate child, was but a week old. The coun- 
try was again subjected to a long minority, and 
a series of conflicting regencies. 

Beyond all reasonable dispute, at the death 
of James V. there was in the Scottish Church 
a party of great weight in favor of reform. 
They had yet no organization separate from 
the Church, and still were members of the es- 
tablishment connected with Rome, but they re- 
proved its errors and urged that it ought to be 
made conformable to the scriptural standard. 
It was dangerous to be a leader in such con- 
nection if weak. That not a few, for political 
reasons, stood forward as such, evinces their 
belief that the popular force to back them was 
strong. A weak dependant on the opinions of 
others, like the earl of Arran, would not have 
urged his claims to the regency under the colors 
of a party which he did not believe able to sus- 
tain him. The Parliament of 1542 set aside the 
other candidates, and recognized him as regent 
and governor of Scotland. The Reformers in 
his support assumed position openly before the 
country as a party. Some of them, recognizing 
him as their head, exhorted him to think for 
what end God had thus exalted him, from what 
dangers he had been delivered, and the expec- 
tations which were entertained of him. He also 
appointed two of their persuasion to be court- 



33° THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

preachers, men of whom Knox speaks in terms 
of high praise. 

Reading the Bible had so far come into prac- 
tice that men began to claim it as a right, not- 
withstanding the law that no part of it should 
be read in English, nor any treatise or exposi- 
tion of any part of it, on the pain of heresy. 
Inquiry was now freely made if it ought not to 
be lawful for men who did not understand Lat- 
in to use the word of salvation in the tongue 
which they did understand. If it was right for 
men who knew Latin, Greek and Hebrew to 
read it in those languages, why should it be 
wrong for men who did not know them to read 
it in English? The Saviour had ordered his 
gospel to be preached to all nations. He must 
have intended it to be preached to them in the 
languages which they understood. And if it 
was lawful to preach it in all languages, why 
should it not be lawful to read it in all lan- 
guages ? How otherwise could people try 
the spirits, according to the exhortation of 
the apostle ? 

The plea could not be set aside as unreason- 
able. And among those who urged it were 
statesmen like the elder Lord Ruthven and 
Henry Balnavis, and on the part of the clergy 
Hay, dean of Restalrig, and others. The com- 
missioners of burghs and some of the nobility 
also united in requesting Parliament to enact 



CARDINAL BEATON. 33 1 

that all should be permitted to use the trans- 
lations which they then had of both the Old 
and New Testament, together with treatises 
of sound doctrine, until such times as the prel- 
ates and churchmen should furnish transla- 
tions more correct. Opposition was made by 
the clerical members. But, overcome by the 
arguments, or the great majority of votes on 
the other side, they consented. Reading the 
Scriptures was by act of Parliament made free to 
all, and all acts to the contrary abolished (1542). 

Immediately the Bible became a fashionable 
book, to be seen on almost every gentleman's 
table, and the New Testament was carried 
about in men's hands. Many also declared 
their gratification with being able to read open- 
ly what formerly they could enjoy only in con- 
cealment. If some made that profession who 
had less pleasure in it than they pretended, it 
only goes the further to prove the extent and 
force of the fashion at the time. But freedom 
of the Bible was a reforming measure distinct- 
ively. 

Books also in refutation of the papacy and 
exposure of its practices, written in Scotland 
as well as brought from England, were read 
with greater freedom and by increasing num- 
bers. 

Four years later, so strong was that party 
and so well understood its strength, that when 



33 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

Wishart was burned at St Andrews the exe- 
cution was ordered immediately under the guns 
of the castle, which were trained to sweep the 
whole ground ; nor did the primate risk him- 
self outside of his castle-walls. 

By the same party, in the first years of the 
regency, the policy of cultivating friendly re- 
lations with England was favored. A pros- 
pective marriage of the infant queen with 
Edward, son of Henry VIII., was looked to as 
in course of time conducive to such friendly 
relations and to the interests of the Protestant 
religion in both countries. A treaty of that 
purport was actually made, but was defeated 
by the fickleness of the regent, who suddenly 
changed his mind and went over to the papal 
party, which contemplated a similar relation 
with the dauphin of France. 

A third party, which sought its affinities with 
the Reformers, but really had little in common 
with them except preference for England rather 
than France, consisted of a few noblemen and 
gentlemen who had pledged themselves to the 
plans of Henry VIII. They were prisoners 
who had been taken at Flodden and at Sol- 
way Moss, and refugees from the seventies of 
James V. ; among whom were the earl of An- 
gus and his brother, Sir George Douglas. 
After the death of James several of them re- 
turned to Scotland under a promise, exacted 



CARDINAL BEATON. 333 

of them by Henry, to use their influence in his 
favor. Those "Assured Scots," as they were 
called in England, did great detriment to the 
Reformation, with which they had nominally 
some connection, reflecting upon it the charge 
of their own disloyalty. 

Moreover, Henry VIII., in his foolishly impe- 
rious way of attempting to attach Scotland to 
his government by force of arms, rendered it 
impossible for Scotsmen to do anything for the 
English alliance, by any means whatever. Thus 
the friendship so fondly hoped for by the Re- 
formers became impracticable on every side ; 
for, in the estimation of the common people, 
far above the interests of any party were those 
of Scotland. The friendship of France had 
been well repaid by the valor and the blood 
of Scotsmen on many a battle-field ; but when 
Frenchmen assumed authority in or over Scot- 
land they were repelled without scruple. And 
although, for the sake of peace and the relig- 
ion of their belief, a party was willing to have 
formed a fairly-balanced alliance with their an- 
cient enemy, yet when it appeared that he was 
bent upon taking advantage of every move- 
ment of the kind to enforce his dominion over 
them, they could forego or suspend the purpose 
of their party to maintain the independence of 
the nation. The political strength of the re- 
forming movement was disguised for many 



334 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

years by the necessity of concentrating all 
efforts to repel the frequently recurring vio- 
lence from the side of England. But though 
politically in abeyance, only a very shallow in- 
spection of the history could rest in the con- 
clusion that the party had ceased to be of any 
national importance. 

After the regent — a good-natured, easy, but 
weak and fickle man — had deserted to the 
Catholic party, the archbishop of St. Andrews, 
who stood at the head of it, retained posses- 
sion of the real authority in both Church and 
State to the end of his days. 

David Beaton, nephew to his predecessor in 
the see of St. Andrews, was born at Balfour, 
in Fifeshire, in the year 1494. Until his six- 
teenth year he studi-ed at St. Andrews, and then 
removed to the University of Glasgow, where 
his uncle was archbishop. He was afterward 
sent to Paris, where he excelled in the depart- 
ments of civil and canon law. In 1 519, for his 
great talent and attractive manners, he was 
made by James V. resident for Scotland at the 
French court, where he managed the affairs 
committed to his charge with great dexterity. 
Even before he became a priest ecclesiastical 
benefices were conferred upon him. His un- 
cle granted him the rectories of Campsie and 
Cambu slang, and afterward the wealthy com- 
mendatory of Arbroath, and prevailed with 



CARDINAL BEATON. 335 

the pope to dispense with his assuming the 
monastic garb for the space of two years. 
Meanwhile, he enjoyed the society and gayety 
of Paris. Returning to Scotland in 1525, he 
took his seat in Parliament as abbot of Ar- 
broath. In 1528 he was appointed lord privy 
seal. By that office having many opportuni- 
ties of being in the company of the young 
king, he soon became a special favorite, and 
in 1533 was sent on an embassy to France, 
from which he did not return until after the 
lapse of about four years. During that inter- 
val he ingratiated himself with Francis I. and 
received naturalization as a French subject. 

Upon the marriage of James V. with the 
princess Magdalen, Beaton returned to Scot- 
land with the royal company in May, 1537. 
After the death of Magfdalen he was sent to 
France to negotiate a marriage for the king 
with Mary of Guise. On that occasion Francis 
conferred upon him the bishopric of Mirepoix 
in the south of France, with a revenue of ten 
thousand livres a year, and procured for him 
from Pope Paul III. the dignity of cardinal, 
which was granted in 1538. 

Cardinal Beaton returned to Scotland as es- 
cort to Mary, the betrothed of James V., whose 
marriage he solemnized at St. Andrews in July, 
1538. In August following he was appointed 
assistant to his uncle, whom he succeeded in the 



336 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

see of St. Andrews in February of next year. 
A few days after his elevation he used his influ- 
ence with the king to procure a gift of land for 
David Beaton, one of his family of illegitimate 
children. Perceiving the rapid spread of Prot- 
estant doctrine, especially among the nobility 
and higher classes, he applied to the pope and 
received the powers of legate a latere for all 
Scotland. 

So much was he impressed with the growth 
of the reforming interest that he resolved to 
take the most stringent measures to check it. 
Very soon after his promotion to the primacy 
he called a meeting of bishops, with the arch- 
bishop of Glasgow and some of the nobility, 
and, presiding over them in the cathedral, 
represented to them the danger wherewith 
the Church was threatened by " the increase 
of heretics, who had the boldness to profess 
their opinions even in the king's court. He 
denounced as one of the most active Sir John 
Borthwick, provost of Linlithgow, and caused 
him to be cited before them. As Sir John did 
not appear, sentence was passed against him. 
His property was confiscated, and as he in per- 
son could not be found — he had taken refuge 
in England — he was burned in effigy. Before 
the first month of the cardinal's primacy had 
closed a great number of Protestants were ar- 
rested. Five were burned to death, nine re- 



CARDINAL BEATON. 337 

canted and some escaped out of prison. Among 
the latter was the celebrated George Buchanan. 
From that time onward the cardinal secured the 
entire control of public affairs, civil and ecclesi- 
astical. James V. never succeeded in emanci- 
pating himself from the overmastering influence 
of the stronger mind. When he died the at- 
tempt was made by the cardinal, on the pre- 
tence of a royal will, to prolong that domina- 
tion by proclaiming himself regent, with the 
earls of Arran, Huntly, Murray and Argyll as 
assistants. But Parliament treated the will as 
a forgery, set the cardinal aside, and proclaim- 
ed Arran sole recent. 

For a time Beaton was imprisoned in Black- 
ness, and afterward in his own castle of St. An- 
drews. But when the regent became alarmed 
about the English treaty he set him free, 
forming a reconciliation with him, and imme- 
diately came under his control more com- 
pletely than had the king. The regent now 
acted with and for the cardinal to suppress the 
Reformation. He dismissed his two Reformed 
chaplains ; the act of Parliament permitting the 
Scriptures to be read in the vulgar tongue was 
repealed, and the offence made punishable with 
death ; heretical opinions were to be rooted 
out, and the prelates were enjoined to make 
inquiry within their dioceses respecting all 
who dissented from Catholic practice and 

22 



33 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

doctrine, and to proceed against them by 
law. 

In these circumstances it is not surprising 
that the greater number of persons entertain- 
ing Protestant convictions should have made as 
little demonstration of themselves as possible. 
Even Knox, now approaching the prime of his 
days, was still silent, biding his time in obscurity. 



BOOK FOURTH. 



THE REFORMATION CONFLICT. 



CHAPTER I. 

GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 

IT has been already stated that the spread of 
Reformed doctrine in Scotland was used by 
a class of political agitators to help forward 
their own designs. Making a profession of 
zeal for pure religion, they secured the sup- 
port of a reliable influence among the people, 
and repaid it with the reproach due to their 
own evil-doings. 

During the repeated invasions from England 
in 1544 and 1545, by which the south of Scot- 
land was devastated and some of her finest 
ecclesiastical structures, Melrose, Dryburgh, 
Kelso, Jedburgh and others, laid in ruins, 
there were men who, under the plea of be- 
ing Reformers, aided the enemy of their coun- 
try, and willingly offered themselves for the 
execution of his least defensible designs. 
The indignation of Henry VIII. was leveled 
chiefly against Cardinal Beaton, by whom the 
treaties of alliance and intermarriage of the 
royal families had been defeated ; and Bea- 
ton, after that victory of his policy, strength- 

341 



34 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ened himself as the real governor of Scotland. 
The regent, if he did not in all cases act in 
compliance with him, proved incompetent to re- 
sist. He was strengthened by the passionate 
blundering of Henry VIII. The raids made 
along the border alienated that portion of the 
Scottish people who otherwise would have pro- 
moted still further effort for the English alli- 
ance, and turned their favor to Beaton as a 
patriotic leader. 

Far from being held in popular respect, Bea- 
ton's character was notorious, his immorality 
undisguised and 'his cruelty insolent, but his op- 
position to the usurping claims of Henry VIII. 
secured him the support of the multitude, who 
could not know the motive of his policy. A 
Frenchman by naturalization, a personal friend 
of Francis I., and holder of a wealthy benefice 
in France, he acted in the interests of his adop- 
tive country by withholding the country of his 
birth from enjoying a peace which would have 
left England free to match herself fairly with 
France. Beaton's patriotism was to let Scot- 
land bleed, that France might be assisted in her 
war with a Protestant neighbor — to maintain alli- 
ance with a more distant Romish power to sup- 
press the reforming party in his native land. 
His interests were with those who honored and 
enriched him — France and the papacy. One of 
the greatest and most accomplished men whom 



GEORGE WISHART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 343 

Scotland has ever produced, he had been com- 
pletely corrupted, both morally and politically, 
by his long and repeated residences among the 
court society of Paris. But Scotland was in 
danger, and her defence was the absorbing care 
of all loyal Scotsmen, of whatever religion, or of 
none. It was no time to criticise the character 
of one who appeared to be her staunchest friend 
at the head of government. For the time, Bea- 
ton was popular in Scotland. 

The hatred of him entertained by Henry VIII. 
was fully intelligent of his purposes. Unfortu- 
nately for both countries, it was expressed in 
actions as stupid as they were wicked. 

One of Henry's projects was to get the car- 
dinal into his hands or to have him put to death. 
On the side of Scotland, a few desperate men, 
who chose to array themselves with the Reform- 
ers, were willing, for a satisfactory consideration, 
to execute that intention. The leader among- 
them seems to have been Crio-hton, laird of 
Brunston, by whom a proposition to murder 
the cardinal was sent in writing- to Lord Hert- 
ford by the hands of a person called Wishart. 
Hertford forwarded the message and messen- 
ger, together with a letter from himself, to the 
king, who gave the messenger an audience, ap- 
proved of the plot, and promised those con- 
cerned in it his royal protection. A correspond- 
ence on the subject was continued for three 



344 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

years between Brunston, the earl of Cassilis 
and Sir Ralph Sadler. Henry would not ap- 
pear in it directly, but deputed Sadler to make 
the arrangements and promise the reward. The 
conspirators, however, refused to act without the 
king's own authority, given under his sign man- 
ual. Accordingly, nothing was done. 

During those years of war and distrust on all 
sides, the true reforming party of Scotland re- 
mained quiet and ventureless. But their exist- 
ence could not be concealed. Arrests were 
made and persons executed for religion's sake 
by order of the cardinal. The regent caused it 
to be brought before Parliament, "How there is 
great murmour that heretics mair and mair rises 
and spreads within this realm, sawand damnable 
opinions in contrair the faith and laws of haly 
Kirk, acts and constitutions of this realm. Ex- 
hortand, therefore, all prelates and ordinaries, 
ilk ane within their own diocese and jurisdic- 
tion, to inquire upon all sic maner of persons, 
and to proceed against them according to the 
laws of haly Kirk ; and my said lord governor 
sail be ready at all times to do therein that ac- 
cords him of his office." 

In 1544, the year after the regent's change 
of politics, George Wishart, an eminent Re- 
formed preacher, returned from England. He 
had been residing at the University of Cam- 
bridge for some time. Represented by con- 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. S4S 

temporaneous accounts as a man of remark- 
able gentleness of spirit, piety, benevolence 
and self-denial, he was possessed of superior 
learning and knowledge of the Scriptures, and 
was thought to be endowed with the spirit of 
prophecy. In Scotland he began to preach at 
Montrose. His manner was not violent or 
fiery, but earnest, tender and impressive in 
demonstrating and applying Scripture doc- 
trine, and sometimes solemnly severe in re- 
buke of prevailing sins and errors. From 
Montrose he went to Dundee, where he lec- 
tured on the Epistle to the Romans, with great 
acceptance of all who attended. By order of 
the cardinal he was interrupted in that work. 
He made no resistance, but withdrew to the 
west country, where he remained a consider- 
able time, preaching in various places, espe- 
cially in and about Ayr, in the church of Gas- 
ton and at a place called the Bar. At Ayr the 
archbishop of Glasgow attempted to resist him 
by pre-occupying the church. The earl of Glen- 
cairn, hearing of it, repaired thither in haste 
with some friends. Other gentlemen of Kyle 
did likewise. When they were assembled, it 
was resolved by them to take possession of 
the church by force. Wishart would not con- 
sent to contend with the bishop for it. " Let 
him alane," said he, " his sermon will not meikell 
hurt. Let us go to the mercate-cross." They 



346 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

followed him to the market-cross, and there, 
says Knox, " he preached so notable a sermon 
that the very enemies themselves were con- 
founded." Meanwhile, the good-natured Arch- 
bishop Dunbar, always averse to severe meas- 
ures, preached a sermon apologetic of his own 
and his episcopal brethren's neglect of preach- 
ing : "They say we should preach. Why not? 
Better late thrive nor never thrive. Had us 
still for your bishop, and we shall provide bet- 
ter the next time." 

Wishart, invited to Mauchline, went there, 
but was forbidden the use of the church. The 
gentlemen who invited him resolved to secure 
him the use of it, if they should have to fight 
for it. Wishart dissuaded them, saying, " Christ 
Jesus is as potent upon the fields as in the kirk ; 
and I find that himself often preached in the des- 
ert, at the seyside and other places judged pro- 
fane, than that he did in the temple at Jerusa- 
lem. It is the word of peace which the Lord 
sends by me. The blood of no man shall be 
shed this day for the preaching of it." And so, 
withdrawing the assembly to a little distance 
from the town, he ascended a stone dyke, and 
there preached to them, as they stood and sat 
about him on the moor. The day was pleas- 
ant, and the sermon was continued to more 
than three hours, in which, says the original 
reporter, " God wrought wonderfully with him." 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 347 

Hearing that the plague had broken out at 
Dundee, and that the mortality was very great, 
no persuasion could withhold him from return- 
ing thither. " They are now in trouble," said 
he, " and need comfort. Perchance this hand 
of God will make them now to magnify and 
reverence that word which before, for the fear 
of men, they set at light part." He lost no 
time, but immediately upon arriving set to work 
in ministering to the sick, whom he found ne- 
glected, and preaching to all. The attendance 
upon his regular sermons was large, humble 
and docile. The effect was alarming to the 
hierarchy. A fanatical priest was instigated 
to kill him. Wishart himself detected him in 
time to prevent the intended crime. The as- 
sembly, who were just going out from sermon, 
would have inflicted summary punishment ; but 
Wishart took the man in his arms and would 
suffer no one to harm him, saying, " He has 
done great comfort both to you and me — to 
wit, he has let us understand what we may 
fear. In time to come we will watch better." 

After the plague had ceased at Dundee, 
Wishart revisited Montrose. While there he 
received an application in the name of some 
gentlemen of the West to meet them in Edin- 
burgh and maintain a discussion with the bish- 
ops, in which they promised to protect him. 
He complied. But not finding them in Edin- 



34 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

burgh, he took occasion to preach at some 
places in the neighborhood. Certain gentle- 
men of Lothian, who were of the Reformed 
persuasion, advised him that it was not expe- 
dient to remain there, and took him with them 
to their country residences. The Sunday fol- 
lowing he preached in the church at Inveresk, 
both morning and afternoon, to a great con- 
course of people, among whom was Sir George 
Douglas, brother of Lord Angus, who openly 
encouraged the people by saying to them there 
that he " would maintain the doctrine he had 
heard that day, and also defend the person of 
the preacher, to the utmost of his power." 

But other notices, it seems, had been set 
afloat which intimidated the people. Upon a 
visit to Haddington, where he expected to 
preach, Wishart found the audience very small, 
and began to perceive that machinations were 
on foot against him. It was while in that quar- 
ter that he became acquainted with John Knox, 
then living in obscurity as a private tutor to the 
sons of Hugh Douglas of Langnidrie. The 
respect for the talents and Christian character 
of Wishart evinced by Knox is the highest 
testimony which could be borne to either. 

Cardinal Beaton was now in pursuit of the 
indefatigable preacher, and had thought the 
cause worth seeing after in person. He was 
in the neighborhood at Elphinstone. Wishart 



GEORGE WISHART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 349 

was arrested by Earl Bothwell, father of one of 
the name more notorious, and submitted to the 
cardinal's keeping. After some removals, he 
was taken to St. Andrews, and confined in the 
sea-tower of the castle or episcopal palace. The 
cardinal summoned a great council of the high- 
est clergy in the land. They met in the end of 
February, 1546. The regent was applied to 
for sanction of the civil power. He refused to 
grant it, and informed the cardinal that he would 
" do well not to precipitate the man's trial until 
his (the regent's) coming ; for, as to himself, 
he would not consent to his death before the 
cause was well examined ; and if the cardinal 
should do otherwise, he would make protesta- 
tion that the man's blood should be required at 
his hands." 

The cardinal, confident in his powers as papal 
legate, replied that he "did not write to the gov- 
ernor as though he depended in any matter 
upon his authority, but out of a desire he had 
that the heretic's condemnation might proceed 
with some show of public consent, which since 
he could not obtain, he would himself do that 
which he held most fitting." Thus he assumed 
the whole responsibility and guilt. 

George Wishart was arraigned before the 
cardinal and the assembled bishops and ab- 
bots on eighteen articles of heresy. He de- 
nied the jurisdiction of the court, and asserted 



3 SO THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

that he was unjustly accused of some of the arti- 
cles. His objections were overruled, and him- 
self condemned to be burned as a heretic. 

In this case the usual sham of handing over 
the condemned to the secular arm was omit- 
ted. The punishment was inflicted by order of 
the archbishop himself. The pile was erected 
in front of his own castle. Safety from inter- 
ruption was secured by his own cannon, and he 
presided over the execution in person. George 
Wishart was burned to death on the 2d of March, 
1 546. It was a bold ecclesiastical act, under pro- 
test of the highest civil authority of the land. 
The perpetrator of it was satisfied that he had 
struck a blow at heresy, which must intimidate 
and deter all others disposed to preach or 
otherwise give publicity to its doctrines. 

As long as the attempt to suppress the growth 
of Protestant opinions by force was persevered 
in, the multitude of those affected by it remained 
silent. The government was very plainly in a 
transition state, which might change in an hour. 
Everything depended upon the frail life of an 
infant. If she died, a new dynasty would come 
to the throne. The earl of Arran was the next 
heir. He had been a Protestant, and others of 
the Hamilton family had proved more faithful 
to that cause. If subjected to the advice of a 
strong and reliable Protestant, instead of the 
cardinal, he might again favor Reformation. 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 35 I 

So many probabilities lay in the next few 
years of the future that good and wise men 
deemed it prudent to await a more favorable 
occasion. But some impatient spirits could not 
wait — men of that class who always insist upon 
carrying their ends at their own time and by 
means of their own creating. 

In 1543 attacks were made by some of the 
populace upon monastic houses in various parts 
of the country. At Dundee those of both Black 
and Grey Friars were destroyed. Soon after- 
ward the abbey of Lindores "was sacked by 
a company of good Christians, as they were 
called, who turned the monks out of doors." 
The church of Arbroath would also have been 
destroyed but for the intervention of Lord Ogil- 
vy. At Edinburgh an attack of the same kind 
was made upon the monastery of the Black 
Friars, but was repelled by a promiscuous 
rising of the citizens. 

Others were ready to lend their aid to Eng- 
lish invasion, in hopes that, the Romish party 
being defeated, the nation would be free to fol- 
low a policy of the popular choice, which they 
fondly hoped would not be Romish. To that 
class belonged the earl of Angus, his brother 
Sir George Douglas, the earl of Cassilis, John 
Leslie and others. A few of them conceived 
of a more direct road to the end they had in 
view. If Cardinal Beaton were disposed of, 



35 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the regent could be brought under more 
wholesome advice, and the principal obstacle 
removed out of the Reformers' way. It was 
well known to them that such an event would 
be gratifying to the king of England. Their 
secret negotiations with him have been already 
mentioned. The plan was never carried into 
effect. 

The three years during which that disgrace- 
ful negotiation lingered contained the summit 
of Beaton's success. He actually ruled Scot- 
land at the head of the papal party. Parlia- 
ment complied with all his measures and en- 
acted them as laws. The regent was in reality 
his second in power, generally compliant with 
his plans. Heresy, wherever detected in accu- 
sable form, was put down by force— constrain- 
ed to recant or silenced in death. Sometimes 
where the charge was slight the penalty im- 
posed was the severest. At Perth five men 
were put to death by hanging and a woman 
drowned — one of the men, because he denied 
that prayer to the saints is necessary to salva- 
tion ; three of them, because they were guilty 
of eating a goose on All- Hallow evening; and 
the fifth, because he was found in their com- 
pany. The woman was put to death because 
she refused to pray to the Virgin Mary, and 
would pray only to God in the name of Jesus 
Christ. 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 353 

Meanwhile, George Wishart was preaching 
in Scotland, and his preaching was followed by 
great religious interest in both east and west. 
Some have assumed that he was the Wishart 
who carried the message of Brunston into Eng- 
land. The name Wishart was not uncommon, 
and such a plot as that proposed by Brunston 
is so strangely contradictory of all that we 
know of the martyr that nothing short of the 
most indubitable identification can satisfy us 
that he was the bearer of such a communica- 
tion. In nothing was the martyr Wishart more 
signally characterized among the men of his 
day than by his tenderness for human suffer- 
ing and shrinking from violence which might 
end in shedding of blood. 

The burning of George Wishart profoundly 
stirred the feelings of all classes. The more 
peaceful were grieved and indignant, while the 
violent were stimulated to revenge. For the 
time being, tongues were let loose with unpre- 
cedented freedom. Impulse set caution at de- 
fiance. On some points people could censure 
the conduct of the cardinal without danger. 
He had taken the whole execution into his own 
hands, and brought upon the Church an oblo- 
quy which she had been always very careful to 
shift from herself to the civil arm. Because a 
man condemned that irregularity it did not fol- 
low that he was a heretic. On another point 

23 



354 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the cardinal was exposed to censure which 
could not be repelled as heresy: his moral 
conduct was notorious. Whatever gallantries 
he concealed, there were some which he car- 
ried on without shame and openly admitted. 

The voice of condemnation was heard in 
many quarters, and some took the ground that, 
if there was no law in the land to prevent or 
punish the atrocities of which he was guilty, 
they should be stopped by the law of natural 
vengeance. John Leslie, brother to the earl 
of Rothes, and no doubt others, thought that 
the country had endured more than enough of 
this cruel and irrational despotism, and open- 
ly vowed that he would see punishment inflict- 
ed upon the man who had been guilty of it. 

Meanwhile, the cardinal and his clergy were 
flattering themselves with having silenced her- 
esy under their jurisdiction in the flames of 
him who alone had dared to preach its doc- 
trines publicly. They were soon to be unde- 
ceived. The popularity which the cardinal 
once had with those who believed in his patri- 
otism was now forfeited. Although the clergy 
lavished praise upon him for his defence of the 
Church, none among the laity, save the most 
extreme papalists, were found to defend him. 

On the evening of the day on which Wish- 
art was executed the cardinal caused a proc- 
lamation to be made through the city forbid- 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON 355 

ding prayers to be offered for the soul of the 
heretic, under pain of the heaviest penalties. 
He had reached the summit of his pride. By 
the priesthood he was lauded to the skies as 
the true and powerful protector of the Church. 
They boasted that, disregarding the " gover- 
nor's authority, he had of himself caused jus- 
tice to be executed upon the heretic," and 
proved the " most worthy patron of the eccle- 
siastical state." Yet, proud as he was of his 
achievement, and perhaps most proud of hav- 
ing snubbed the recent, and exercised the 
powers which properly belonged to him, the 
haughty prelate seems to have been not quite 
sure of his own safety ; for he set to work 
to strengthen the defences of his palace, the 
castle of St. Andrews, and kept it well sup- 
plied with munitions of war. 

Not long after the burning of George Wish- 
art, Cardinal Beaton went in great state to 
Finhaven Castle, in Angus, to be present at 
the marriage of his daughter Margaret to Da- 
vid Lindsay, heir of the earldom of Crawford, 
to which he afterward succeeded. The wed- 
ding was celebrated with the utmost magnif- 
icence, and the dowry of the bride was equal 
to that of a princess. Margaret Beaton, the 
illegitimate daughter of a Romish priest, became 
a countess and the mother of four successive 
o-enerations of noblemen. 



35^ THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

In the midst of the festivities news arrived 
that Henry VIII. was advancing with a great 
army to invade Scotland. Beaton hastened to 
St. Andrews to push forward the strengthen- 
ing of his castle, and to rouse the nobility of 
the nation and organize an effective resistance, 
as if all the duties of government rested upon 
his shoulders. The alarm proved false. Not 
the less did he go on with the work upon the 
ramparts of his castle-palace. 

On the 28th of May, in the evening, Norman 
Leslie, the son of Lord Rothes, with five fol- 
lowers, rode into the town of St. Andrews and 
put up at his usual lodgings. William Kir- 
caldy of Grange was already there. Later in 
the evening, and when it was now dark, came 
John Leslie, the uncle of Norman, also Peter 
Carmichael and the gentle, modest, but resolute 
fanatic James Melville, and others to the num- 
ber of sixteen in all — all of gentle if not noble 
blood. 

Next morning, by daybreak, they were as- 
sembled in little groups in the neighborhood 
of the castle. The porter had lowered the draw- 
bridge to admit the masons and other workmen. 
Norman Leslie and three of his companions en- 
tered with them and inquired for the cardinal. 
The porter answered without suspicion that he 
was not yet awake. While they were talking, 
James Melville, Kircaldy of Grange and others 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON 357 

entered also. At the approach of the rest, with 
John Leslie at their head, the porter suspected 
danger and hastened to raise the drawbridge. 
But Leslie was too quick for him, and, having 
stepped on it, stayed it and leaped in. The 
porter was knocked on the head, his keys taken 
from him, and himself tumbled into the foss in 
a few seconds, and so silently that no alarm 
was given. With equal silence the workmen 
were led to the gate and dismissed, before they 
had time to exchange a word with one another 
or could think what was the matter. Other con- 
spirators went to the apartments of the different 
gentlemen of the household, and led them in 
silence, one by one, to the outer wicket and dis- 
missed them without injury. One hundred and 
fifty persons were thus disposed of briefly and 
silently by those sixteen men, resolute and self- 
possessed, who then, dropping the portcullis and 
shutting the gates, were masters of the castle. 

By this time some noise awoke the cardinal. 
Looking out of his window, he asked, "What 
means that noise ?" Some one answered, 
" Norman Leslie has taken the castle." He 
then ran to the postern, but finding it guarded, 
hurried back to his room, seized a two-handed 
sword and ordered his servant to bolt the door 
and barricade it with heavy furniture. John 
Leslie demanded admittance. " Who calls ?" 
asked the cardinal. — " My name is Leslie." — 



3 $8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

"Is it Norman?" — " My name is John." — "I 
will have Norman, for he is my friend."— "Con- 
tent yourself with such as are here, for other 
shall ye get nane." With John Leslie were 
Melville and Carmichael. While they were 
attempting to force the door open Beaton 
called to them, "Will ye save my life?" — "It 
may be that we will," replied Leslie. — "Nay, but 
swear unto me, by God's wounds, and I shall 
open unto you." — " It that was said is unsaid," 
was the answer. Fire was now called for to 
burn the door. It was opened from within. 
" I am a priest," exclaimed the cardinal — " I 
am a priest ; ye will not slay me." Leslie, who 
rushed upon him, struck him once or twice, and 
was followed by Peter Carmichael. 

James Melville interposed. " This work and 
judgment of God," said he, "although it be se- 
cret, yet it ought to be done with greater grav- 
ity ;" and presenting the point of his sword to 
the cardinal's breast, went on to say, " Repent 
thee of thy former wicked life, but especially 
of the shedding of the blood of that notable 
instrument of God, Master George Wishart, 
which, albeit that the flame of fire consumed 
before men, yet cries it a vengeance upon thee, 
and we from God are sent to revenge it. For 
here before God I protest that neither the ha- 
tred of thy person, the love of thy riches nor 
the fear of any trouble thou couldst have done 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 359 

to me in particular moved or moveth me to 
strike thee ; but only because thou hast been, 
and remainest, an obstinate enemy to Christ 
Jesus and his holy evangel." Having delib- 
erately so spoken, he passed his sword two or 
three times through the cardinal's body. The 
miserable victim's only words, as he sank down 
in the chair on which he was seated, were, " I am 
a priest, I am priest ; fy ! fy ! all is gone !" 

Great excitement had now arisen in the city, 
and a crowd assembled in front of the castle, 
demanding that the cardinal should appear. 
The conspirators, after some delay, finally 
complied with their urgency to see him by 
suspending the bleeding body out of a win- 
dow. The crowd then quietly dispersed. 

Cardinal Beaton being dead, the conspira- 
tors retained possession of his castle for their 
own safety. To avenge the death of a mar- 
tyr they had become criminals before the law 
of the land. Some of them were otherwise 
good men, earnestly pious men, misled by er- 
roneous ideas of natural justice, and by misap- 
plication of certain passages in Old-Testament 
history. Others, of a different character, took 
part in the conspiracy to gratify their own out- 
raged feelings. Beaton's private conduct had 
been such as to array no little of that kind of 
animosity against him. But all alike felt that 
they were involved in what the civil as well as 



300 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ecclesiastical law deemed a crime of great enor- 
mity. It was thought safest to keep together 
and retain the protection of the castle, which 
was well supplied with provisions and means 
of defence, until the most favorable terms pos- 
sible could be secured from the authorities. 

Learning that state of the case, John Rough, 
a zealous Reformed preacher, came to St. An- 
drews to undertake their religious instruction. 
And about the same time Henry Balnavis, an 
eminent lawyer and statesman, with some oth- 
ers, joined them, until altogether they number- 
ed not much less than a hundred and fifty. 

On the other side, the regent was assailed 
with all urgency by the bishops to take some 
course for bringing speedy and condign pun- 
ishment upon the murderers. He preferred 
the regular course of law, and issued summons 
for their appearance under trial. They refused 
to comply, and were denounced as rebels, while 
the ecclesiastical authorities solemnly cursed 
them and all who should harbor them or fur- 
nish them with aid or comfort. 

For the vacant primacy the regent nomi- 
nated his half-brother, John Hamilton, bishop 
of Dunkeld. The nomination was followed by 
regular election. The pope, Paul III., fearing 
the secession of Scotland entirely from his do- 
minion, confirmed the election without delay, 
earnestly representing to the regent and the 



GEORGE WISHART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 36 1 

new archbishop the duty of adequately pun- 
ishing the injury done to the ecclesiastical 
state by the slaying of Beaton. 

The castle of St. Andrews stood upon the 
northern verge of the town, fronting toward 
the abbey at the opposite extremity, and upon 
ground a little lower than the adjoining street. 
Its walls on the east were washed by the sea, 
and on other sides looked out upon a country 
flat and bare. A siege conducted with the 
armies now in use such a structure could not 
have resisted for a day. But all the resources 
then at the command of the regent were em- 
ployed against it between four and five months 
in vain. The besieged, by their unobstructed 
access to the sea, were abundantly furnished 
with all necessary supplies from England. 

In January, 1547, the regent, apprehensive 
that they might be supported by an army from 
the same quarter, agreed to a capitulation on 
the following terms : First, that they should 
keep the castle of St. Andrews until the gov- 
ernor and authority of Scotland should get 
them a sufficient absolution from the pope for 
the slaughter of the cardinal. Second, that 
they should give pledges for the surrender of 
that house as soon as the absolution was de- 
livered unto them, and that they should keep 
the earl of Arran, son of the regent, who was 
among them, as long as their pledges were 



362 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

kept. And third, that they, their friends, ser- 
vants and others to them pertaining, should 
simply be remitted by the governor, and never 
be called in question for said slaughter, but 
should enjoy all commodities, spiritual and 
temporal, which they possessed before the 
committing thereof. "Articles liberal enough," 
says Knox, "for they never minded to keep a 
word of them, as the issue did declare." 

The siege was raised, and until the arrival 
of the absolution the conspirators held the cas- 
tle, and those of them not implicated in the 
murder went out and in without being mo- 
lested. 

It was during this interval that John Knox 
came among them, bringing with him the three 
lads under his tuition. " Wearied," as he 
writes, " of removing from place to place by 
reason of the persecution which came upon 
him," he had thought of going abroad, but the 
fathers of the boys whom he taught persuaded 
him to go to St. Andrews, that he might have the 
protection of the castle, and their sons the con- 
tinued "benefit of his doctrine." Among the 
lessons which he gave was included a cate- 
chism of religious instruction, on which he ex- 
amined his pupils publicly in the parish church 
of St. Andrews, and also reading the Gospels, 
which he accompanied with exposition adapted 
to their capacity. This was done in the chapel 



GEORGE WISHART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 363 

of the castle. Persons who happened to be 
present at those lessons felt themselves much 
profited, and the suggestion was made, and 
universally approved, that he should be invited 
to preach. He was an ordained priest, but had 
shrunk from service in the Romish Church, 
and now also declined this invitation. The 
congregation in the castle, after consulting 
together in his absence, commissioned John 
Rough, their pastor, to press their call upon 
him publicly. Rough preached a sermon on 
the call to the ministry, and at the close, turn- 
ing to Knox, made a solemn application of the 
doctrine to him, and uttered the charge which 
he had been requested to deliver. Then turn- 
ing to the congregation, he asked, " Was not 
this your charge unto me ? And do you not 
approve this vocation?" — They answered, "It 
was, and we approve it." 

Knox, overcome with emotion, made no re- 
ply, but rose and withdrew. Accepting the call 
as of God, he felt no comfort until he appeared, 
after several days, in the new capacity of a min- 
ister of the gospel. Until the response arrived 
from Rome he continued to assist in preaching 
and pastoral work in the castle, and both he 
and Rough occasionally preached in the city. 

A certain dean, John Annan, had long trou- 
bled Rough in his ministry. Knox defended 
the preacher with his pen, and had beaten Dean 



3^4 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

John from all his defences until he took refuge 
in the absolute authority of the Church. Knox 
insisted upon knowing what was the Church, by 
definition drawn from Scripture, and offered to 
prove that the Roman Church of that day "was 
further degenerate from the purity which was 
in the days of the apostles than was the Church 
of the Jews from the ordinance given by Moses 
when they consented to the innocent death of 
Jesus Christ." These words were spoken open- 
ly in the parish church. The people called out 
that they wished to hear his proof. Accord- 
ingly, he made that his theme next Sunday in 
the same place, taking for his text the seventh 
chapter of Daniel ; in discussing which he car- 
ried attack upon the errors of the Catholic 
Church and the corruptions of the papacy in 
all their breadth, describing also the features of 
the true Church in New-Testament language. 

This was heresy of a bolder type than had 
hitherto been heard in Scotland. It was some- 
thing very different from the modest and gentle 
earnestness of Hamilton and Wishart. They 
had proclaimed the gospel with warmth and 
fullness, but avoided unnecessary attacks upon 
their enemies. This new preacher launched his 
denunciations against error on every hand, and 
hurled his arguments at the heads of its de- 
fenders with a boldness which enlisted the con- 
fidence of one party while it filled the other 



GEORGE WISH ART AND CARDINAL BEATON. 365 

with dismay. With an irresistible power of 
logic, an uncommon command of Scripture, and 
a keen satirical wit and humor, he reveled in 
the facility of defeating all opponents. The 
Scottish Reformation at last beheld its lead- 
er, one of the God-made rulers of men. 

The archbishop, who was not present nor yet 
fully inducted, wrote to the sub-prior, Winram, 
saying " that he wondered how he could suffer 
such heretical and schismatical doctrines to be 
taught" without opposition. Winram — partly 
of the Reformer's opinion, but privately — com- 
plied with the order of his superior, called a 
convention of both Black and Grey Friars, and 
cited Knox and Rough to appear before them. 
A list of articles was read in which they were 
charged with teaching heresy. The sub-prior 
listened to their answers, and responded with 
some mild objections. A Grey Friar, one Ar- 
buckle, rushed into the discussion, but soon be- 
gan to feel embarrassed under the hard and 
lucid arguments which encountered him, and 
in his desperation asserted, among other fool- 
ish things, that the apostles had not received 
the Holy Ghost when they wrote their Epistles. 
The sub-prior found it necessary to reprove his 
assistant and bring the conference to a close. 
He dismissed the preachers with a brotherly 
admonition " to take heed what doctrine they 
taught in public." That kind of debate the 



366 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

monks did not again invite. Such was the ef- 
fect of the preaching by Knox and Rough in 
St. Andrews that all the occupants of the castle 
and many people of the town joined in partak- 
ing of the Lord's Supper after the scriptural ex- 
ample. 

John Rough, soon after that occasion, went 
into England, where he continued to preach in 
various cities until the death of Edward VI. In 
the time of Mary he fled into Friesland, but, re- 
turning to England in 1557, he was arrested 
and burned in Smithfield. 

When the papal absolution came it was 
found not satisfactory, and was rejected. In 
less than a month a French fleet arrived with 
a besieging army. The garrison of the castle 
was once more cooped up within their walls. 
By the end of July, 1547, they surrendered, on 
condition that their lives should be spared; their 
leading men were to be transported to France, 
or conveyed upon the French ships to any other 
country they might prefer, except Scotland. 

The French captain then plundered the cas- 
tle of everything worth carrying away. After 
he had gone, it was reduced to ruins — doomed, 
as a place where a cardinal had been slain. The 
loss of that cardinal was a calamity from which 
the papal cause in Scotland never recovered. 



CHAPTER II. 

ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 

AFTER the capture of the castle of St. An- 
drews, the prisoners were taken on French 
galleys to Rouen. There, after some delay, 
orders were received distributing them all in 
different places of imprisonment — in Rouen, 
Cherbourg, Brest and Mont St. Michel, and 
some, among whom was John Knox, in the gal- 
leys. This disregard of the capitulation was 
referred to the instance of the pope and the 
Scottish bishops. 

From Rouen the galleys sailed to Nantes, 
and lay all winter in the Loire. Next sum- 
mer they sailed to the coast of Scotland, on the 
outlook for English vessels. By exposure, hard 
labor and cruel treatment, Knox's health was 
seriously impaired, and for a time his life was 
in danger ; but he never despaired of the cause 
in which he suffered, nor wavered in his hope 
of further serving it. While sailing along the 
coast in sight of St. Andrews he replied to a 
friend, who asked him if he knew that city, 
" Yes, I know it well ; for I see the steeple of 

367 



368 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND, 

that place where God first opened my mouth in 
public to his glory; and I am fully persuaded, 
how weak soever I now appear, that I shall not 
depart this life till that my tongue shall glorify 
his godly name in the same place." Meanwhile, 
in moments of relief from fever and from toil, 
he wrote a statement of the doctrines which he 
believed, and found means to have it sent to his 
friends at home for their instruction and the 
confirmation of their faith. 

It was in prison also that Henry Balnavis 
composed that treatise on justification and the 
works of a justified man which was, some time 
afterward, prepared for the press with notes 
and a " recommendatory dedication " by John 
Knox. 

In Scotland, soon after the departure of 
the French fleet, an English army crossed the 
border, and advanced, under command of the 
Protector Somerset, as far as the vicinity of 
Edinburgh. Then followed, on the ioth of 
September, the battle of Pinkie, that deepest 
and last of the disasters which humiliated the 
regency of Arran. The country seemed on the 
point of being prostrated beneath the feet of a 
strong and victorious enemy. But, for some 
unknown reason, the Protector, after destroy- 
ing the church of Holyrood and other places 
around Edinburgh, returned to England. In 
February, following a victory won upon the 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 369 

border restored the spirits of the Scots and 
the expectations of their allies. 

Occasion was taken of the increased animos- 
ity toward England, created by the war, to se- 
cure for France the advantages of a marriage 
with the queen of Scotland. A small but well- 
trained and well-equipped body of French 
auxiliaries landed at Leith in June, 1548, and 
proved of valuable service in helping to recov- 
er the strongholds garrisoned by the English. 
Soon after their arrival, the French ambassa- 
dor, D'Esse, laid proposals in reference to the 
royal marriage before the Estates. They were 
jealously discussed, and a treaty was conclud- 
ed in July, whereby the little maiden of Scotland 
was to become the wife of the heir-apparent of 
France, as soon as both should reach the proper 
age. Until then she was to reside with her moth- 
er's kindred of Lorraine. The ambassador, on 
his return, was to be her escort to the land of 
her education and her honors, and, as it proved 
in the end, the source of her misfortunes. To 
escape English cruisers on the common route, 
the French ships sailed out of the Forth, round 
the northern extremity of Scotland, and took 
their precious little passenger on board at 
Dumbarton. Mary Stuart first set foot in 
France at Brest on the 30th of August, 1548, 
when six years of age. 

The Scottish statesmen who favored the 

24 



37° THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

French alliance were not more patriotic 
than those who preferred the English ; the 
policy of the latter was, in fact, the wiser and 
farther-reaching of the two, but at that time 
was intensely unpopular. On the other side, 
calamities enough arose out of the brief union 
of the two crowns, Scottish and French ; and 
had it lasted the ordinary life of man, nothing 
but continued calamity could have been expect- 
ed, possibly the entire subjugation of the weak- 
er country. And yet that the policy of the 
French party prevailed was nothing more than 
the natural effect of causes too controlling for 
the wisest policy to counteract. The clergy 
were all in favor of France, for France was 
Catholic and persecuted Protestants ; England 
was Protestant and held Catholics under re- 
pression ; and the greater number of Scottish 
people, whatever they might think of their 
priests, were still Catholic. On the part of 
the suitors there was a difference of manner, 
in itself enough to decide the question. Eng- 
land wooed with threats of compulsion and 
desolating war; France with professions of 
friendship and military aid. 

The shortsighted policy turned out, in the de- 
velopments of Providence, to the overthrow of 
the party that chose it and the humiliation and 
ruin of the unhappy woman personally con- 
cerned, but to the best for the nation. Had 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 37 1 

Mary been taken to England and educated a 
Protestant as the betrothed bride of Edward 
VI., the result, in any conceivable probability, in 
the death of the young king before marriage- 
able age, and the succeeding reign of the Cath- 
olic Mary Tudor, could not have been worse for 
Mary Stuart personally, and would have put 
her in harmony with her subjects, when old 
enough to reign, even if it had not, in the 
eyes of the Protestants of England, constitu- 
ted her their most eligible candidate for their 
throne after the death of Mary Tudor — a can- 
didate whose legitimacy even Catholics could 
not have questioned. Thus she might herself 
have done what was actually reserved for her son 
to do — worn the two crowns. But that would 
not have led to the measures by which the Cath- 
olics so prejudiced their cause in Scotland as to 
create a tide of revulsion which confirmed the 
independence of the Reformed Church. 

For the then existing present, however, the 
results tended to peace. The war by which 
Scotland had been so long harassed was sub- 
sequently prosecuted by the English with little 
zeal, while the Scots and their French allies 
won rapid victories. It was brought to an 
end in April, 1550, by a treaty in which Scot- 
land recovered the boundaries which she had 
before it began. 

In September of the same year the queen- 



372 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

mother, Mary of Lorraine, made a visit to 
France. During her residence there, plans 
were initiated for the ultimate annexation of 
Scotland. The first step was to have Mary 
herself put into the place of regent. With a 
view to that end high honors were conferred 
upon the earl of Arran. He was invested with 
the duchy of Chatelherault, with its town and 
palace. Nor were the favors from the side 
of France conferred in such a way that the 
proud noble should feel them as a price paid 
for the highest place in his native land, but that 
the good-natured, weak and compliant man, by 
receiving unsought and unconditional favors 
from a friend, in such exalted station, might feel 
disposed to return an equally exalted and un- 
sought kindness. At the same time, Arran was 
not ignorant of his own unpopularity among 
his countrymen. It had been increasing since 
1544, and an irregular meeting of some mem- 
bers of the Estates, or Scottish Parliament, had 
given expression to that feeling in their dis- 
tinctly stated intention to depose him and put 
the queen-mother in his place. The annoy- 
ance which he suffered, on the one side, from 
those who wished him to remain in office, and 
on the other from the action of his opponents, 
seems at last to have become more than he 
cared to endure. Things were accordingly so 
disposed that the duke of Chatelherault grace- 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 373 

fully yielded the regency of Scotland, which in 
April, 1554, was conferred upon Mary of Lor- 
raine. 

After France had completed the treaty of 
marriage with the heir of the Scottish throne, 
obtained possession of the person of the sov- 
ereign and begun to think of the ultimate 
annexation of that kingdom, and thereby of 
retaliating humiliation upon England, it be- 
came a matter of very little moment to court 
the favor of a dozen Scottish bishops by hold- 
ing in custody a hundred Scottish prisoners. 
Accordingly, the exiles of St. Andrews were 
soon afterward set free, some in 1549, and the 
rest after the taking of Boulogne in 1550. A 
few had escaped by their own ingenuity and en- 
terprise. They all lived to enjoy their liberation, 
except James Melville, who died of sickness in 
prison. Knox was liberated in 1549, and im- 
mediately passed over into England, where he 
was employed in the reformation then going 
on under Edward VI. Appointed to preach 
in Berwick and about Newcastle, and after- 
ward in London and the south of England, .he 
continued in that service until the death of 
the king. His salary was then withheld, but 
he did not cease preaching until the Marian 
persecution began. 

In the five terrible years which succeeded, 
many English Protestants found refuge in Scot- 



374 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

land, seeking safety in obscurity, as did their 
co-religionist Scots themselves ; but for Knox 
to go there would have been to rush into the 
clutches of his deadly enemies. The chair of 
David Beaton was now occupied by John Ham- 
ilton, a man of entirely kindred spirit. Ham- 
ilton, in his degree, was following the example 
of Beaton, repressing the utterance of Reform- 
ed religion wherever he could obtain informa- 
tion of it. In 1550 he seized Adam Wallace, 
a plain man of good though not great learn- 
ing, but of zealous piety, and consigned him to 
the flames. To have got Knox into his hands 
would have furnished a sacrifice the pride and 
boast of his primacy. The Reformer found a 
shelter, until the storm blew over, with Calvin 
in Geneva. 

Adherents of Reformed doctrines in Scot- 
land had the less difficulty in concealing their 
convictions that very few of them were clergy- 
men, and that they continued to attend regu- 
larly at their parish churches. The number 
also of those dissatisfied with the Romish relig- 
ion was now such that they mutually respected 
each other's reticence. It had not yet occurred 
to them that their change of opinion was to de- 
mand separation from their old places of wor- 
ship. What they contemplated was reform, not 
disruption — a revival of pure religion, working 
in and for the whole, not for a few, to take them 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. S7S 

away by themselves. Nor had they conceived 
of more than one Church. To keep silence, 
when speaking might do harm, was fidelity to 
the cause. The few clergy of their persuasion 
could not conscientiously do so. To speak 
was their calling, and when they spoke they 
must speak their belief. For them the best 
course was to withdraw, for a time, to some 
country where they could labor for truth with- 
out injuring its interests. Some of them, like 
Sub-prior Winram, whose progress w T as not so 
far advanced, could say all that they felt called 
to say and retain their places in safety. 

From the reduction of the castle of St. An- 
drews until 1554, such was the course of the 
adherents of Reform in Scotland. During all 
that time Archbishop Hamilton believed that, 
with the help of his brother the regent, he 
had succeeded in repressing, if not extinguish- 
ing, the troublesome heresy. A few executions, 
as he and his bishops thought, had intimidated 
its leaders and sent the more restless into exile. 

When Mary of Lorraine began to aim at the 
regency, it was her policy to secure the favor 
of the nation as widely as possible, and espe- 
cially of that party whom the earl of Arran 
had disobliged in changing his politics, and 
who had ever since been his opponents. She 
knew well that the believers of the so-called 
new doctrines belonged to that party through 



3^6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

whom his elevation to the regency had been 
secured. They, it is true, had also advocated 
the English alliance and opposed the French. 
But now that the latter had succeeded, and her 
daughter was safely in the care of her kinsmen 
of Lorraine, there was nothing to be feared on 
that question. They had been completely alien- 
ated from Arran. By a little judicious manage- 
ment were not they the men to turn the balance 
in her favor ? Actually, they did so. She was 
made regent in opposition to the policy of Arch- 
bishop Hamilton, and for some time kept on 
such good terms with those who had so effect- 
ually helped her, that many deemed her secret- 
ly disposed to their doctrine. In those circum- 
stances men began to express themselves with 
greater freedom, and refugees from persecu- 
tion in England sought safety in Scotland, and 
there promoted the cause for which they suf- 
fered. 

Among others, two Scotsmen who had long 
been exiles for religion's sake returned to their 
native land. William Harlaw, employed as a 
preacher in England under Edward VI., now 
ventured to come back and preach the gospel 
to his countrymen. In Ayrshire he labored 
from place to place in private houses until 
after 1560, when he settled in St. Cuthbert's, 
near Edinburgh. 

John Willock, a native of Ayrshire, had in 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 377 

early youth joined the Franciscan order. Soon 
afterward converted to the Reformed faith, he 
abjured his monkish profession and fled into 
England, where, however, he did not altogether 
escape persecution under Henry VIII. Lat- 
terly, he enjoyed protection as chaplain of the 
duke of Suffolk. On the accession of Queen 
Mary he left England and took up his resi- 
dence at Embden. In the summer of 1555 he 
was sent by Anne, duchess of Friesland, to the 
queen-regent of Scotland on some commercial 
business. While residing in Edinburgh he 
took occasion to converse fully on the subject 
of religion with those who for that purpose 
came to him in his own apartments. Late in 
the autumn of that year he returned to Emb- 
den, but not before a greater workman had 
taken his place in Edinburgh. 

John Knox, when he left England in Janu- 
ary, 1554, delayed at Dieppe until the end of 
February, hesitating whether to go farther or 
return and encounter the multiplying dangers. 
He concluded to visit the churches in Switzer- 
land. It was a hasty visit. By the beginning 
of May he was back in Dieppe, where news 
could be readily got from Britain. Though 
strongly desirous of going to Berwick, where 
his wife and mother-in-law were residing, he 
perceived that such a step would still be pre- 
mature, and instead of it went to Geneva. 



37 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

There he was affectionately received by Calvin, 
but anxiety about the state of his native coun- 
try made him restless. He returned again to 
Dieppe in July. The intelligence was discour- 
aging. Scotland was still biding her time in 
silence — England was sinking deeper and 
deeper under Romish intolerance. He re- 
turned to Geneva, and devoted himself to 
study, especially of the Hebrew language, with 
which he had not been previously acquainted. 
But his tranquil pursuits were not long unin- 
terrupted. Invited by the English Protestant 
congregation at Frankfort-on-the-Main to be 
their pastor, and strongly advised by Calvin 
to accept the place, he removed thither in No- 
vember of the same year. The congregation, 
though harmonious at first, upon the arrival of 
other exiles from England divided among them- 
selves. The new-comers found great fault with 
the worship because it was not conducted after 
the manner prescribed under Edward VI. * The 
other section resisted the attempt to force a lit- 
urgy upon them. No man could please both. 
Knox left them in March, 1555, and went back 
to Geneva, where he settled down once more to 
his biblical studies. They were not again inter- 
rupted through the rest of the spring and sum- 
mer. In August, having learned of the change 
for the better enjoyed by his countrymen un- 
der the new regent, he returned to Scotland. 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 2)79 

The place where he landed was near Berwick. 
After visiting his family he proceeded to Edin- 
burgh, where he arrived while Willock was still 
there. 

At the house of a trusty friend and fellow- 
Protestant, James Syme, a respectable burgess 
of the capital city, he continued for several weeks 
to preach daily. As many more than the apart- 
ments could accommodate came to hear him, he 
divided them into companies, whom he address- 
ed successively at different hours through the 
day and evening. The attendance went on in- 
creasing, and many came in a state of great 
spiritual anxiety, inquiring what they should do 
to be saved. In short, he found a profound 
revival of religion quickening about him. 

At that juncture a new step of progress was 
ventured on. Attendance upon mass now ap- 
peared to be inconsistent with the knowledge 
of the scriptural way of salvation possessed by 
the people. At a conference of a few of the 
chief men — among whom, besides Knox, were 
John Erskine of Dun, an earnest and experi- 
enced Christian, and William Maitland of Leth- 
ington, a young statesman destined to future 
celebrity — it was resolved to discontinue at- 
tendance upon the Romish service. 

Soon afterward Knox was persuaded to go 
with Erskine of Dun to his residence in Angus, 
where he remained about a month. During all 



380 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

that time he preached every day to audiences 
consisting of the principal people of the neigh- 
borhood. He then went south to Calder House, 
where he was kindly entertained by Sir James 
Sandilands, and preached there with similar re- 
sults. Among his hearers were Archibald Camp- 
bell, Lord Lorn, afterward earl of Argyll ; John, 
Lord Erskine, afterward earl of Mar; and James 
Stewart, prior of St. Andrews, afterward earl of 
Murray and regent of the kingdom. 

Early next year Knox visited Kyle, that dis- 
trict of the west where believers of Reformed 
faith first constituted a society in Scotland, and 
where they were now quite numerous. There 
he preached in many places, and especially in 
the town of Ayr, with greater publicity than be- 
fore. On several occasions, both in the east 
and west, he also administered the Lord's Sup- 
per after the scriptural example. It was thus 
that his work became known to the clergy. 
Until now they had not been aware that he 
was in the country. Attempts were forthwith 
made to have him arrested, but without success. 
He was then summoned to appear before a con- 
vention in Edinburgh, May 15, 1556. He came 
to the city, but accompanied by a number of 
gentlemen resolved to protect him from injust- 
ice. In those circumstances the bishops, espe- 
cially as they were not sure what side the regent 
might take, must have perceived that to dispose 



ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 38 1 

of him without a full discussion of the doctrines 
in question between them was impossible. With 
such an adversary public debate of doctrine was 
not desirable. Accordingly, they met before the 
time appointed, and on the plea of some inform- 
ality in the summons set the convention aside. 
During the ten days following Knox remained 
in Edinburgh, and preached to larger assem- 
blies than before, no man venturing to hinder 
him. 

The queen-regent being still thought to be 
secretly inclined to the Reformation, Knox 
wrote her a letter in the hope of eliciting a 
declaration to that effect. It turned out other- 
wise. She took occasion to declare herself on 
the other side by handing the letter to the arch- 
bishop of Glasgow, with a contemptuous remark. 
It was plain that she had now leagued her inter- 
ests with those of the bishops. New severities 
were in prospect for the Protestants. New ob- 
stacles were to be thrown in their way. The 
evangelization of the Scottish Church could not 
be effected yet. Things were not ripe. Pa- 
tience a little longer would be better than 
provocation. 

Knox was called to be one of the pastors of 
the English congregation at Geneva, and re- 
turned thither in July, 1556, having first re- 
visited his various preaching-places in Scot- 
land and made a tour into Argyll, reviving in 



382 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

many hearts the spirit of the early days of 
Iona. 

As soon as he was gone the clergy summon- 
ed him to appear before them, passed sentence 
against him in his absence and burned him in 
effigy. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 

THE demand for ecclesiastical reform in 
Scotland began in the west country, espe- 
cially in Ayrshire, and on the eastern coast at 
different places from Berwick to Montrose, with 
the central Lowlands along the Forth and the 
Clyde. Farther to the south, and in the north- 
ern counties, it grew up more slowly. In Ayr- 
shire the Lollards of Kyle had formed their 
society before the close of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. When Wishart went into that district 
he found several of the nobility and gentry 
prepared to defend him. Subsequently, Har- 
law and Knox successively enjoyed the pro- 
tection of the earls of Cassilis and of Glen- 
cairn. In 1556, Knox was taken by one of his 
Ayrshire friends to the earl of Argyll at his res- 
idence of Castle Campbell, where the Reformer 
remained several days and preached. To the 
doctrine which he then heard the aged noble- 
man gave his cordial assent, and remained 
attached to the end of his life. His son, Lord 
Lorn, was already one of its adherents. On 



384 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the east, the earls of Angus and of Morton, 
whatever may have been their spiritual interest 
in its truth, chose their profit or their loss with 
its fortune. Others, as Sir James Sandilands 
(Lord St. John), and a number of the princi- 
pal gentry, as John Erskine, laird of Dun, 
were early its friends from the purest mo- 
tives. They were all well-educated, well-in- 
formed men, and better versed in Scripture 
than were the Catholic clergy of their day. 

On the occasion of Knox's visit to Dun, in 
1556, most of the gentlemen of Mearns pro- 
fessed their attachment to the Reformed relig- 
ion by partaking of the Lord's Supper to- 
gether. They also entered into a solemn bond 
by which they renounced the Romish worship 
and engaged to promote the pure preaching 
of the gospel as Providence might enable them. 

A similar covenant was drawn up next year 
and signed at Edinburgh, on the 3d of Decem- 
ber, by the Protestant lords generally and by 
many others. 

After the second removal of Knox to Ge- 
neva, the Protestants of Scotland remained 
faithful to their profession, but carefully avoid- 
ed all action which might give ground of offence 
to the government. In their relations to one 
another they followed the instructions which 
Knox had left them, in withdrawing from the 
Romish service, and constituting themselves 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 385 

into congregations in different parts of the 
country, with some degree of privacy. For a 
time, destitute of ministers, they could not en- 
joy the sacraments, but certain persons of their 
number were chosen to read the Scriptures, to 
exhort and to pray in their meetings. They 
also elected elders for the maintenance of 
order and supervision in general, and deacons 
to collect and distribute alms to the poor. 

During the war with England, which began 
in 1556 and continued through next year, the 
Protestants enjoyed considerable freedom, the 
authorities of government being otherwise oc- 
cupied than in harassing their own people. 
Reformed doctrine made great progress both 
as to the number of converts and the freedom 
of their profession. Encouraged by these cir- 
cumstances, some of them, at whose head were 
the earl of Glencairn and the Lords Lorn, Er- 
skine and James Stewart, wrote to Knox, in- 
forming him of their condition, representing 
it as hopeful, and expressing their wish that 
he would return and resume his ministrations 
among them. He accordingly left Geneva in 
October, 1557, but upon reaching Dieppe met 
with other news. Things had assumed a more 
discouraging aspect, and his friends no longer 
felt justified in advising him to come home. 
After waiting and corresponding with them 

about three months, he became convinced that 
25 



3^6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

the way was not yet prepared for him to do 
any good by visiting Scotland. He returned 
to Geneva. 

The cause of that change lay in the concern 
with which the Catholic clergy in Scotland had 
seen the growth of dissent in the parishes. 
Protected by some of the nobility, Reformed 
priests had ventured to preach in different 
places among the dissenting congregations. 
The vigilance of persecution was quickened 
throughout the country, while the bishops pre- 
vailed with the regent to summon for trial at 
Edinburgh the ministers who had presumed 
to preach without their permission. That pro- 
cess, however, was stopped by the appearance 
of certain gentlemen from the west with a re- 
monstrance, which induced the regent to for- 
bid the molestation of Protestants. 

The meeting of the nobles and barons at- 
tached to the Reformation, held at Edinburgh 
in December, 1557, recommended certain regu- 
lations to all their people in common. 

It was thought by them expedient, for the then 
existing exigency, " that in all parishes of this 
realm the Common Prayer be read weekly on 
Sunday and other festival days publicly in the 
parish churches, with the lessons of the Old and 
New Testament, conformed to the order of the 
Book of Common Prayer. 1 And if the curates 

1 Their first substitute for the mass was the " Book set forth by the 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 387 

of the parishes be qualified, to cause them to 
read the same ; and if they be not, or if they 
refuse, that the most qualified in the parish use 
and read the same. 

" Secondly : It is thought necessary that doc- 
trine, preaching and interpretation of Scriptures 
be had and used privately in quiet houses, with- 
out great conventions of the people thereto, un- 
til afterward that God move the prince to grant 
public preaching by faithful and true ministers." 

The former of these resolutions could take ef- 
fect, of course, only where the residing barons 
were Protestant and the people either of the 
same belief or disposed to comply. But of 
the disposition of the common people we learn 
something from the record that the images were 
stolen away from the churches in all parts of 
the country, and that the dissenting conventions 
and councils were held with "great gravity and 
closeness," uninterrupted by any popular dis- 
turbance. 

In accordance with the second, the Reformed 
preachers were taken into the houses of the 
nobility and protected as chaplains. This was 
still more alarming to the hierarchy than the 
former practice of itinerancy. Preachers enter- 
tained in the families of the principal nobility of 
the kingdom were beyond the reach of perse- 

godly King Edward." — Lettei- of William Kircaldy, quoted by Froude, 
vol. vii. p. in. 



388 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

cution. Attempts were made to withdraw that 
protection from them. 

The earl of Argyll had invited to his house 
and retained as his chaplain John Douglas, a 
converted Carmelite friar, and employed him in 
preaching among his people. Relying upon 
the friendship existing between the Campbells 
and Hamiltons, the primate addressed an ap- 
peal to the earl, urging, in a very courteous 
manner, the danger of harboring such men as 
Douglas in their heresy. 

Argyll's reply closed all avenue of hope in 
that quarter. It was temperate but firm, de- 
fended the doctrine preached by the chaplain 
as that of Scripture, and refused to dismiss him. 
It mentioned the topics of his moral instruction 
with high commendation, in language which the 
primate could not fail to apply to his own scan- 
dalous life. The earl added that if his lordship 
of St. Andrews could furnish him with more 
such preachers as Douglas, he would gladly, 
and with thanks to his lordship, provide them 
with a corporal living. "For truly," said he, "I 
and many more have great need of such men. 
And because I am able to sustain more than 
one of them, I will request your lordship earn- 
estly to provide me such a man. For the har- 
vest is great, and there are few laborers." 

Foiled in that attempt, the archbishop turned 
his rage against preachers still within his power. 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 389 

Walter Milne, an aged parish priest, condemned 
as a heretic in the time of Cardinal Beaton, but 
who had escaped and continued to preach in 
private from place to place, was now discov- 
ered and brought to trial at St. Andrews. He 
was condemned, and burned to death on the 
28th of August, 1558. As the flames began to 
rise about him he addressed a few words to the 
spectators, and closed thus: "As for me, I am 
fourscore and two years old, and cannot live 
long by course of nature ; but a hundred bet- 
ter shall rise out of the ashes of my bones. I 
trust in God I shall be the last that shall suffer 
death in Scotland for this cause." 

The public indignation created by that exe- 
cution exceeded anything of the kind that had 
gone before. People who had hitherto remain- 
ed quiet and submitted to prudential limitations 
now bade defiance to ecclesiastical terrors and 
openly joined the Protestants. 

Great national changes do not, in Scotland, 
proceed upon sudden impulses. Even those 
which have been precipitated by some unex- 
pected event will be found, on inquiry, to have 
been long preparing in the peaceful agitation 
of social intercourse. Apparently, the Reform- 
ation was the work of a few months. In real- 
ity, it was the growth of more than half a 
century. History cannot trace all the course 
whereby it gradually reached maturity. But 



390 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

from the burning of Patrick Hamilton to that 
of George Wishart, and from that to the burn- 
ing of Walter Milne, are its two most moment- 
ous stages. Boys and youth, startled into in- 
quiry by the first of those events, and thereby 
enlisted in the controversy which never ceased 
through all the intervening time, were men of 
middle age, fully prepared to take public action 
promptly, on occasion of the last. 

A progress is obvious in the sentiment and 
demonstrations made as the change went on. 
The surprise, leading to earnest inquiry, in the 
case of Patrick Hamilton, and which rose to a 
feeling of revenge and insurrection, which had 
to be reduced by arms, in that of George Wish- 
art, was changed on the burning of Walter 
Milne into a national purpose of revolution, 
waiting only a proper time to break forth into 
fact. So plainly did that temper make itself 
understood as national that another execution 
of the kind was never ventured on. 

Reformed ministers now felt safe in breaking 
over the limitations to which they had deemed 
it prudent to submit, and began to preach in 
public and to administer the sacraments. Har- 
law, Douglas, Paul Methven and others thus 
boldly dared forthwith, and in a few weeks they 
were joined by John Willock, once more re- 
turned from Hanover. A new invitation had 
been already sent to John Knox. But it was 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 39 1 

slow in reaching him, and because of other ob- 
stacles he did not arrive in Edinburgh until the 
2d of May next. 

Meanwhile the Protestant nobles had laid 
their complaint before the regent, requesting 
that, " by her authority and in concurrence with 
Parliament," she would " restrain the violence 
of the clergy, correct the flagrant abuses which 
prevailed in the Church, and grant to them and 
their brethren the liberty of religious instruc- 
tion and worship, at least according to a re- 
stricted plan, which they laid before her." Af- 
ter repeated experience of her duplicity and un- 
reliableness, they had been brought to the point 
of open war. At that juncture John Knox ar- 
rived. A few days later, the Protestant leaders, 
once more betrayed by the regent, felt constrain- 
ed to withdraw from her government. 

Means were accordingly taken to ascertain 
the number of their friends, and to establish 
correspondence and the strictest bonds of obli- 
gation among them. Their covenant was com- 
mitted to persons who procured subscriptions 
to it in their respective districts. Thus all the 
Reformed in the country learned of their com- 
mon strength and secured organization. In the 
language of their covenant, they were the Con- 
gregation, and the noblemen, who so far had 
moved at their head, were the Lords of the 
Congregation. 



39 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

That body of noblemen included the earls 
of Argyll, Glencairn, Monteith and Rothes, 
Lords Ochiltree, Boyd, Ruthven, and the prior 
of St. Andrews, Lord James Stewart. Some 
who were friendly to Reformed religion still 
abode by the regent or remained neutral. 
"A large proportion of the lesser barons be- 
longed to the Congregation," especially in that 
belt of country which lies diagonally across the 
kingdom from Mearns and Fife on the east to 
Carrick and Galloway on the west. 

Leadership on the conservative side was in 
the hands of no feeble champion. Men ener- 
vated by sloth and vicious indulgence occupied 
places of great emolument in the Church, and 
ignorance and incapacity prevailed among the 
clergy high and low ; but neither ignorance nor 
incapacity were charged upon the primate. He 
was very far from being a man of pure morals, 
but his learning was respectable, even in that 
noonday of accomplished scholarship, and his 
natural ability more than common. Had the 
Romish system stood in fair esteem before the 
people, the primacy of John Hamilton would 
have evinced no signs of weakness. It was his 
lot to contend against the progress of his time, 
to stand in resistance to the increasing breadth 
and light of the national convictions. Conse- 
quently, his most energetic measures were de- 
feated and stamped with the brand of inefficien- 



THE LORDS OE THE CONGREGATION. 393 

cy by the adverse and irresistible current of 
events. 

John Hamilton was the natural son of James, 
first earl of Arran. He early evinced a taste 
and capacity for letters, and well improved the 
facilities afforded him for their culture. He 
studied at Glasgow, and afterward at Paris, 
with marked success. Made abbot of Paisley 
in 1525, he continued his residence in France 
until his half-brother was elevated to the re- 
gency. Next year, 1543, he was appointed 
keeper of the privy seal, and in 1545 made 
bishop of Dunkeld, and after the death of Car- 
dinal Beaton, in 1546, promoted to the primacy. 

As archbishop he entered upon office with 
the purpose of suppressing the Reformed faith 
in Scotland. The cautious silence, so generally 
observed by persons of that persuasion after 
the capture of St. Andrews and the exile of 
their ablest leaders, rendered it difficult to as- 
certain the opinions of any one of them with 
sufficient clearness to brine him to trial. And 
yet many suffered great hardships, from suspi- 
cions more or less sustained, under his rule, 
and demonstrated heresy was subjected with- 
out mercy to the death penalty. His first pub- 
lic act, after his consecration, was the trial of 
Adam Wallace, arrested by his orders on the 
charge of heresy. 

Wallace was accused of having preached 



394 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

without proper license, of having baptized 
one of his own children, of denying the ex- 
istence of purgatory, the intercessory power 
of saints and transubstantiation of the ele- 
ments in the Eucharist. He declared that he 
had never presumed on preaching, and the con- 
trary was not proved ; his act of baptizing was 
only an irregularity ; the valid charges were the 
other three. On all of them he defended him- 
self from the Bible. He was reproved for med- 
dling with the Bible. That was a book which 
it belonged to the clergy alone to read and un- 
derstand. Condemnation was passed upon him, 
and he was burned to death on the Castle Hill 
of Edinburgh, as if the example were to read 
a lesson of conformity to the whole nation. 

But there was one cause of complaint in the 
Church, and much in the mouths of Reformers, 
which could not be encountered in that way, and 
touching which no man felt the necessity of si- 
lence. It was the often-mentioned licentious- 
ness and arrogance of the clergy, in which some 
of the highest dignitaries were the most notori- 
ously guilty. It had long been a ground of com- 
plaint. It was undeniable. No censure had 
checked it. What was to be done about it? 
Archbishop Hamilton perceived that his order 
had lost ground in general esteem, and the few 
who were guiltless of the common vice were 
the most humiliated by the degradation. 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 395 

The people also needed instruction of a na- 
ture to counterbalance the Protestant books, 
which could not be kept out of the country. 
Some steps must be taken to set forth Catholic 
doctrine in a way to propitiate public favor. 

A national council was called in 1549 to take 
these matters seriously into consideration. Ac- 
tion was there taken in regard to the clergy, ex- 
horting them to amend their lives, and specifi- 
cally prohibiting, under severe penalties, the 
vices of which it was well known that many 
of them were guilty, and some had no inten- 
tion of reforming. 

" Provision was also made for preaching to 
the people ; for teaching grammar, divinity and 
canon law in cathedrals and abbeys ; for visit- 
ing and reforming monasteries, nunneries and 
hospitals ; for recalling fugitives and apostates, 
whether monks or nuns, to their cloisters ;" for 
silencing itinerant sellers of indulgences and 
relics ; and, in general, for correcting the 
alarming multitude of abuses which had crept 
into the Church silently, and retained their 
place by force of the number of persons in- 
terested in them. 

But there were other evils, regarded as the 
most serious of all by readers of the Bible, and 
which the bishops could not remove. Those 
were some of the so-deemed orthodox tenets 
and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. 



39^ THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

On such points conciliation was not to be thought 
of. Heresy was to be sought out and perse- 
cuted with increased watchfulness and severity, 
and heretical books, especially " poems and bal- 
lads against the Church or clergy, were to be 
diligently sought after and burned." 

Measures were also taken to bring out a kind 
of religious literature which the bishops thought 
would instruct and interest the people and help 
to retain them in allegiance to the Catholic 
Church. In this connection the Aberdeen 
Breviary, in course of preparation perhaps 
many years before, made its appearance, with 
its wonderful tales of saints and their miracles 
and general treasury of Roman Catholic exam- 
ples. It was printed in 1550 — far too late for 
any effect but to arouse the ridicule of men who 
had learned from their Bibles. 

Another work, sanctioned by the national 
council of 1 55 1, was a catechism for popular 
instruction, prepared by some unknown author, 
but, from the sanction conferred upon it by the 
primate, called " Archbishop Hamilton's Cate- 
chism." It was written in a spirit of charity and 
great moderation, presenting Catholic dogma in 
the least offensive way to persons of Protestant 
persuasion ; and for that reason attributed, with 
strong probability, to Sub-prior Winram of St. 
Andrews. It appeared in a volume of four 
hundred and forty pages, small quarto, hand- 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. S97 

somely printed in Old English black-letter at 
the expense of the archbishop, and bearing date 
St. Andrews, August 29, 1552, containing in- 
structions on the Commandments, Seven Sac- 
raments, Creed, Lord's Prayer, Magnificat and 
Ave Maria ; it was in the Scottish dialect, and 
designed to be read to the people in church by 
portions. " As much as would occupy half an 
hour" was to be read from the pulpit every 
Sunday and holiday with a loud voice, clearly, 
distinctly, impressively, solemnly, by the rector, 
vicar or curate in his surplice or stole. 

For a similar purpose, but as much inferior in 
merit as it was smaller in size, was the pamphlet 
issued by the national council of 1559. Es- 
pecially designed to be read as a preparation 
for receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, it 
set forth the doctrine of transubstantiation in 
what was thought to be a popular way. It con- 
sisted of only four pages in black-letter, and 
was sold for twopence Scots. The Reform- 
ers greeted it with derision, and dubbed it the 
"Two-penny Faith." 

All such efforts for the inner reform and for- 
tifying of the Romish cause came too late for 
success. The dissenting Reformation which 
they were designed to supersede had got too 
much headway, covered too much ground, to 
be effectually encountered within such narrow 
bounds. On the subject of clerical morality 



39$ THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

not much could be done with any reformatory 
effect. Who was to inflict the penalty? who 
to throw the first stone ? The bishops were 
themselves guilty, and the primate most of all. 
Inner reform of the Church had failed. Recall 
of Protestants was now hopeless. On their 
part, rational conviction had been set on fire 
by the cruelties of persecution ; return to their 
rejected superstitions was out of the question. 

The principal business of the council of 1559 
was to consider some suggestions offered by 
certain laymen attached to the Church. The 
changes which they urged were in discipline 
and conduct. Down to that date no improve- 
ment had taken place. Nor had the action of 
that council any other effect than once more, 
by rebuking, to acknowledge the existence 
of long-censured iniquity, and to drive many 
churchmen into the ranks of the Reformers. 
It was the last council of the Roman Catholic 
establishment of Scotland. 

All the primate's efforts to reconcile heretics 
had proved fruitless, and his burning of some 
of them, instead of intimidating the rest, had 
only provoked alienation and wrath. The 
weapons he wielded crumbled in his grasp. 
Still, though worsted, he never surrendered, 
but fought for his ground, inch by inch, to the 
end. One of his next public acts was in Par- 
liament, in 1560, to vote in a similarly ineffect- 



THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION. 399 

ive way against the Reformation. He survived 
the crisis of that great revolution of faith, and 
saw himself subjected to some little experience 
of that restraint he had so often laid upon oth- 
ers. In 1563 he was brought to trial before the 
Judiciary Court of Edinburgh for hearing auric- 
ular confession and celebrating mass, and pun- 
ished by imprisonment. But again he came 
up on the winning side by the favor of Queen 
Mary. For a time he was one of her privy 
council, and held a commission under the great 
seal restoring jurisdiction in the probate of 
testaments and other things pertaining to the 
spiritual court. He opposed the act of Mary 
in leaving her kingdom, and, it is said, urgently 
remonstrated with her to the last. 

Under the succeeding regency Hamilton was 
denounced as a traitor. After hiding for some 
time among his friends, he took refuge in the 
castle of Dumbarton, which was then held for 
France. It was taken by the national forces 
on the 2d of April, 1571. The ex-archbishop 
was carried a prisoner to Stirling, and on the 
ground of complicity in the murder of Lord 
Darnley, but in virtue of a previous attainder 
by act of Parliament, was there, in his episco- 
pal robes, hanged over the battlements of the 
castle on the 6th of the month. 

Thus died the last primate of the Roman 
Catholic establishment in Scotland. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 

THE second wife of James V. survived him 
seventeen years and six months. A daugh- 
ter of Claude of Lorraine, first duke of Guise, 
and sister of Francis, the second duke, and of 
the cardinal Charles of Lorraine, she partook 
of the uncommon ability of her family, in that 
its best day. With a degree of liberality to- 
ward Protestants which her brothers never pos- 
sessed, she was equally with them attached to 
the Catholic Church. Her humane disposition 
and well-balanced good sense, while allowed 
to act freely, secured her popularity in a land 
which never loved the rule of a foreigner. The 
misleading bias of her character was the ami- 
able one of strong attachment to her brothers, 
whereby she was disposed to put their judg- 
ment above her own, and that part of her edu- 
cation which led her to undervalue the truth. 
From the death of her husband, in 1542, 
until her appointment to the regency, in 1554, 
Mary of Lorraine held no official place in the 
government of Scotland ; but her own personal 
place and character gradually vindicated for her 
400 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 4OI 

an influence in its affairs which increased after 
the death of Cardinal Beaton. And when her 
daughter had been betrothed to the heir of the 
throne of France the ambition of her kindred 
was sustained by that of the French court in 
seeking for her a constitutional authority. 

That was a proud day for Claude of Lor- 
raine. While his oldest son was risine to the 
position of the first subject of France, and his 
younger son just created cardinal at the age of 
twenty-two, his granddaughter, born queen of 
Scotland, was betrothed to the future king of 
France, with the prospect of uniting both king- 
doms, if not also England, under their rule and 
in her right. Claude did not live to see the 
end of those splendid and not unreasonable 
expectations, nor to know the depths of calam- 
ity in which some of them set. The next fif- 
teen years were the summit of prosperity to the 
house of Guise — a prosperity which in its best 
estate had more of hope than fruition. 

The queen-dowager of Scotland understood 
well the party differences between the Catho- 
lics and Reformed. It was the same contro- 
versy in which her brothers were so earnestly 
engaged in her native land. And it was not 
difficult to see how the regent Arran had lost 
the confidence of one of those parties without 
securing that of the other. Her policy, as well 
as natural disposition, guarded her against his 

26 



402 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

errors. The head of the house of Hamilton 
was nearest heir to the Scottish throne in the 
case of her daughter's death without children. 
But the leading mind in that house was not the 
ex-regent, but the archbishop of St. Andrews. 
To counteract him, operating through and sus- 
tained by the clergy, it became her policy to 
strengthen her adherents among the Catholic 
laity by a moderate toleration of the Protest- 
ants. Nor was it indispensable to alienate the 
clergy as a whole. There were some among 
them who could take little interest in the am- 
bition of the Hamiltons. The position of Mary 
of Lorraine, during the first five years of her 
administration, was strong in the good-will of 
the people, and, unintentionally on her part, of 
of the greatest benefit to the Reformation. 

Mistaking her motives, the Protestant lead- 
ers expected too much in hoping to bring her 
over to their cause. Knox's letter, written to 
her with that view in a respectful but author- 
itative manner, provoked an indignant remark 
and the assuming of an attitude to repel all 
hope of her conversion. They became alarm- 
ed, and, from apprehension that premature haste 
might seriously prejudice their cause, adopted 
those measures of caution already mentioned. 
But for two years longer whatever hardships 
they suffered were not inflicted by the regent. 

Of one mistake, however, she never saw the 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 403 

danger until too late. She persisted in the 
practice of employing Frenchmen in places of 
power and emolument in the state. And the 
attempt, by a new system of taxation, to keep 
in pay a standing army, instead of relying upon 
the patriotism of the nobility, although defeat- 
ed, was followed by accepting from France a 
body-guard of foreigners. 

It had already become a settled purpose of 
the Guises and the court of France to secure the 
subjection of Scotland to their interests, if not 
directly to French dominion. The marriage 
of Mary Stuart with the dauphin took place on 
the 24th of April, 1558. Among the prelimi- 
naries it was subsequently discovered that the 
young queen had been persuaded, by her kins- 
men, to sign certain papers conveying her king- 
dom to the royal family of France. Her hus- 
band was to be king of Scotland. The com- 
missioners sent by the Estates of Scotland to 
represent their country in the nuptial solemni- 
ties were required to send for the Scottish re- 
galia, that the coronation might be complete.. 
They declined. In other respects they were 
also offended with the evidences of a spirit of 
usurpation. Upon their way home three of 
their number, Lords Cassilis and Rothes and 
Bishop Reid of Orkney, were taken suddenly 
ill and died at Dieppe. The remaining three, 
Lord James Stewart, Erskine of Dun and the 



404 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND, 

archbishop of Glasgow, when making the re- 
port before the Estates, presented also a re- 
quest, in the name of the queen, that the 
"crown matrimonial" should be conferred on 
her husband. It was granted, but with the 
limitation that it was to be merely a compli- 
ment, and to continue during the marriage 
alone. 

An accidental wound in a tournament car- 
ried off Henry II., July 10, 1559, and Francis 
II. and Mary became king and queen of France 
and Scotland. They had already assumed the 
title to England ; for Mary Tudor had died the 
preceding year, and Mary Stuart, in the eyes 
of Catholics, was the only heir to the English 
throne. In the mental and bodily feebleness 
of Francis II., as well as his immature age, 
being only sixteen, the duke Francis of Lor- 
raine took the management of public affairs, 
leagued with his brother the cardinal and the 
queen-dowager, Catherine de Medici. 

To the success of their plans the Guises held 
that the destruction of Protestantism was of 
first importance. A frightful persecution was 
commenced in France. Protestantism alone 
stood between them and the throne of Eng- 
land for their niece, for none save Protestants 
admitted the legitimacy of Elizabeth. A united 
Catholic France, with a united Catholic Scot- 
land, upon invasion of England would be join- 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 405 

ed by the Catholics of that country, still a very 
large minority of the population ; and all three 
kingdoms were to be subjects of the one crown. 
It was certainly a glorious plan, and not im- 
practicable, as it appeared to the daring Fran- 
cis of Lorraine and his ambitious cardinal bro- 
ther. 

Intimation was forthwith communicated to the 
queen-regent of Scotland of the new scheme. 
Her judgment rejected it, her feelings revolted 
from it. She remonstrated. By what method 
of persuasion we know not, her reluctance was 
overcome and her whole government changed. 
Friendship was now sought with the Scottish 
primate, and the best relations with the Cath- 
olic clergy. Protestants were ordered to wor- 
ship according to the rites of the Roman Church. 
That order was to take effect immediately upon 
the ensuing Easter of 1560. Protestant dele- 
gates waited upon her, and ventured to re- 
monstrate on the ground that their ministers 
preached the truth and peacefully. She replied 
that " they should be banished out of Scotland, 
albeit they preached as truly as ever did St. 
Paul." When her former promises were ad- 
duced, her answer was that "it became not sub- 
jects to burden their princes with promises fur- 
ther than theyfplease to keep them." 

About the same time, the Reformed worship 
was set up and very numerously attended in the 



406 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

town of Perth. The regent sent orders to the 
provost to suppress it, and also commissioned 
persons to persuade the people of Montrose 
and Dundee to observe Easter in the pre- 
scribed Romish manner. For disobedience the 
preachers were summoned to appear before the 
privy council at Stirling on the ioth of May, 
1560. A number of gentlemen resolved to ac- 
company them without arms, as peaceful men, 
intending only to give their confession together 
with their preachers. Erskine of Dun went on 
before them to inform the regent of their inten- 
tion. He soon reported to. them her assurance 
that, if they would disperse, the citations should 
be withdrawn. The assembly complied, and 
many of them returned to their homes. But 
the promise was not kept. When the appoint- 
ed day arrived the citations were read out, and 
the persons cited, not appearing, were outlawed 
and proclaimed rebels. Erskine, indignant that 
he should have been made the agent of the 
regent's perfidy, withdrew from her service. 

This was on the ioth of May. Eight days 
before, John Knox had landed at Leith, and on 
the day after the preachers were outlawed he 
preached in Perth. He now found the nation 
ripe for revolution in religion, and boldly open- 
ed the attack upon the idolatry of the Romish 
Church. By accident, during the interval of 
worship, while the congregation was absent, a 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 407 

mob was excited which broke down the images 
in church and destroyed the monasteries. 

The regent was enraged, and threatened to 
lay the city in ruins. The Protestants once 
more assembled to protect their ministers. 
An army of seven thousand marched against 
them. They were not half that number. But 
a few days before, some of their circular letters 
had been carried away south-west into Kyle 
and Cunningham, and came into the hands of 
the earl of Glencairn, who, together with a 
large number of his neighbors, convened at 
the church of Craigie. After some diversity 
of opinion had been expressed, the earl rose 
and said, " Let every man serve his conscience. 
I will, by God's grace, see my brethren in St. 
Johnston [Perth]. Yea, albeit never a man 
should accompany me, I will go, and if it were 
only with a pick upon my shoulder, for I had 
rather die with that company than live after 
them." The whole assembly resolved to go 
with him, and their number soon increased. 
The earl reached Perth at the head of two 
thousand five hundred men, of whom twelve 
hundred were cavalry, and with them the 
preacher John Willock. The numbers on 
each side of the conflict were now more fair- 
ly matched. The regent consented to a treaty, 
of which the conditions were that if the people 
of the town were not troubled for the late change 



408 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

of religion and attack on the monasteries, and 
if the Reformation were allowed to go forward, 
and if the French garrisons were removed, she 
should be obeyed by them in all things. 

The terms were agreed to, and next day the 
Congregation departed from Perth. No sooner 
were they gone than the regent entered with 
her troops and priests, in utter disregard of the 
agreement. The earl of Argyll and Lord James 
Stewart, disgusted with her untruth, withdrew 
from her counsels, and with them followed the 
Lord Ruthven, the earl of Monteith and others. 

The Congregation reassembled, and, with Ar- 
gyll and Lord James at their head, occupied St. 
Andrews. A force was sent from Linlithgow to 
expel them. But they were too strong to sub- 
mit to that process. The result was another 
treaty, under which the regent withdrew her 
troops to the south of the Forth, promising to 
send a commissioner to treat with the Lords of 
the Congregation more fully. The commissioner 
never came. Her aim was to gain time until an 
army should arrive from France. 

The Reformers marched to Edinburgh, which 
they entered without resistance. The regent 
had retreated to Dunbar. Subsequently, when 
many of them had scattered to their homes, she 
came back, and with her French troops enforced 
a compromise whereby the two parties occupied 
the city together in peace. 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 409 

In a short time the expected French rein- 
forcements arrived and fortified themselves in 
Leith. They were joined by the regent, who 
by that time had alienated the confidence of 
her wisest adherents. She was now deserted 
by the duke of Chatelherault, the earl of Ar- 
ran and Maitland of Lethington. 

Meanwhile, the Lords had formed a treaty 
with Queen Elizabeth. When the French were 
commencing their work of conquest by ravag- 
ing the coast of Fife, an English squadron en- 
tered the Forth. The French had hastily to 
betake themselves to their camp, which was 
soon besieged by the united English and Scot- 
tish forces. 

Mary of Lorraine, suffering under sickness, 
was removed to the castle of Edinburgh, where 
she received the utmost respect and attention. 
Aware that her disease was incurable, she had a 
conference with some of the Reformed lead- 
ers — Argyll, Glencairn, the Lords James Stew- 
art and Marichal — to whom she expressed deep 
regret for the course she had latterly pursued 
and the condition to which things had been re- 
duced, but plead that the blame had not orig- 
nated with herself. Her remaining hours were 
given to concerns of religion, in which she will- 
ingly held a conversation of some length with 
the Reformed preacher, John Willock. She 
died on the 19th of June, 1560, while the siege 



410 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

of Leith was still going on. The faults of her 
last few months obscured to all future time the 
wisdom of more than as many years. 

A populace, no matter how intelligent indi- 
vidually, as a whole cannot understand them- 
selves without an interpreter, nor move to any 
wise and permanent result without a leader. 
To be a true leader a man must fully under- 
stand and be imbued with the purpose of the 
people, and possessed of ability to expound it 
to themselves and to others, and to regulate 
their impulses prudently. He may be one of 
superior rank, but better for his calling is it to 
be one of themselves. He may be elected by 
them or moved from within himself, but, in eith- 
er case, what he is sustained by them in effect- 
ing for them must be taken as the exponent 
of their purpose. 

When we find the poems of Sir David Lind- 
say enjoying a popularity unprecedented in that 
country, we must infer that they gave expres- 
sion to sentiments entertained by a numerous 
portion of the Scottish people. Although those 
of Dunbar had less extensive circulation, yet, 
in as far as they treated the same topics in a 
similar spirit, they met the same favor. The 
public sentiment, thus signified, may not yet 
have created a political party, but it is evident 
that there was something in it which a daring 
and skillful leader might make use of to that 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 4II 

end. Such a leader was slow in coming to the 
front. 

In the Scottish Reformation the first conspic- 
uous men were scholars, preachers of the gos- 
pel, humble, modest, retiring and averse to 
political agitation. Even the statesmen who 
first belonged to it, such as Balnavis, were, in 
as far as they were Reformers, more devotional 
than polemic. In its early days the Scottish 
Reformation was purely religious and moral, 
and avoided all complication with politics. The 
few noblemen who availed themselves of its 
support for attainment of their own ends took 
that step at a later time, when its power was 
more pronounced. Yet, though not forming a 
political party, the men whose religious views 
determined the election of a regent after the 
death of James V., and that in opposition to 
the plans of Cardinal Beaton, must be recog- 
nized as a power in the state. Mary of Lor- 
raine recognized them as such, and for years 
courted their favor to elevate and sustain her- 
self in office. 

And yet there is a way of expression, inar- 
ticulate but unmistakable, sometimes adopted 
by the people themselves. The attacks upon 
monastic houses, made in 1543 at Dundee and 
various other places, were not the work of rob- 
bers, but of Christian people in detestation of 
monkish immorality, as American " vigilance 



412 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

committees " sometimes clear out gamblers, 
debauchees and other corrupters of public 
morals. They were acts of reformation after 
the crude, impulsive way of popular justice. 
When instructed by their wiser men in the 
necessity of law-abiding quiet and diffusion of 
knowledge in order to success, all outbreak of 
violence was avoided for years ; for in the death 
of Cardinal Beaton the public had no hand. Re- 
ligious knowledge spread rapidly between the 
death of James V. and the burning of Walter 
Milne. The act of Parliament passed in the 
beginning of that interval, allowing people of 
all classes to read the Bible, was itself an act 
of reformation, and fertile of all other things 
rightly pertaining to the cause. When Parlia- 
ment afterward repealed that act, it could not 
withdraw the Bibles ; it only constrained the 
people to hold them in closer keeping and to 
value them more highly. 

The first leaders to give the Reformation a 
political place in the land were the noblemen 
who latterly became known as the Lords of 
the Congregation. But such was the progress 
of Protestant persuasion in that interval that 
when the Lords sent out the Covenant for sub- 
scription, they received the most definite evi- 
dence that the greater part of the people of 
Scotland were in favor of it. 

The burning of Walter Milne in April, 1558, 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 413 

and subsequently the queen-regent's change of 
policy, and reckless deceit in her dealings with 
the lords, causing them successively to with- 
draw from her court, as well as the knowledge 
of their own numerical strength, rapidly re- 
moved the weight of those restraints to which 
the Protestant people had long submitted. The 
next few months saw many cases of popular 
outbreak, though not a single one of bloodshed 
or personal injury. Idols, not men, were the 
objects of violence. Biblical instruction, en- 
forced and applied by their preachers, had well 
enlightened the congregations on the nature of 
image- worship. They wanted no more of it. 
Yet they could not go to church without hav- 
ing their convictions insulted and their devo- 
tions disturbed with everywhere-recurring ob- 
jects of idolatry. Those objects of idolatrous 
worship were removed by the Christian people. 
Who was to be injured by it? Congregations 
who preferred them of course did not remove 
them. It was the most harmless kind of icono- 
clasm — people themselves destroying their own 
idols which they had formerly worshiped, and 
that without hurt to their priestly custodians. 
The images soon disappeared from the 
churches in most parts of the country quietly. 
In some of the large cities the change created 
more sensation. At Edinburgh the great idol 
of the cathedral church of St. Giles was taken 



414 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

out and drowned in the North Loch, and after- 
ward burned. The priests were in dismay, and 
urged the bishops to bring the sacrilegious per- 
petrators to punishment. The bishops applied 
to the regent. She was not yet prepared to 
disoblige either party, but consented to sum- 
mon the Protestant preachers to trial for it. 
The preachers complied, and with them came 
many of their friends. The bishops were 
alarmed, and procured a proclamation that all 
who had come to the city without orders should 
forthwith repair to the English border, and re- 
main there fifteen days. It happened that a 
large number of those present were west-coun- 
try men, who that very day had returned from 
service on the border, and who recognized no 
right in any quarter to send them back. Indig- 
nant at the unreasonable proclamation, they 
made their way to the apartment where the 
regent and the bishops sat in council. In very 
plain terms they made complaint of the injus- 
tice done to them who had been obedient in 
all things lawful. One of their number, James 
Chalmers, stood forward as spokesman, and 
boldly charged their grievances upon the bish- 
ops and the primate there present, and added, 
" We vow to God we shall make a day of it. 
They oppress us and our tenants for feeding 
of their idle bellies. They trouble our preach- 
ers, and would murder them and us. Shall we 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 41 5 

suffer this any longer ? Nay, madam, it shall 
not be." And every man put on his steel 
bonnet. 

" My joys, my hearts, what ails you ?" said 
the queen soothingly. " Me means no evil to 
you, nor to your preachers. The bishops shall 
do you no wrong. Ye are all my loving sub- 
jects. Me knows nothing of this proclamation. 
The day of your preachers shall be discharged, 
and me will hear the controversy that is be- 
twixt the bishops and you. They shall do you 
no wrong." Then turning to the bishops, " My 
lords," said she, " I forbid you to trouble them 
or their preachers." Again to the other party, 
who were moved by her kind words, she added, 
"O my hearts, should ye not love the Lord your 
God with all your heart and with all your mind, 
and should ye not love your neighbors as your- 
selves ?" 

So the summons was set aside, and no ac- 
count taken of the tragic end of old St. Giles. 

But his anniversary, September ist, was at 
hand, when he was to be carried in proces- 
sion ; and what was to be done without him, 
the principal character in the solemnity ? The 
town council w T as required by the clergy to re- 
place the image destroyed. They replied that 
to them the requisition seemed unjust. " For 
they understood that God, in some places, had 
commanded idols and images to be destroyed ; 



4-l6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

but where he had commanded idols and im- 
ages to be set up they had not read." A warm 
dispute on the subject issued in an appeal to 
the pope, which was never carried out. A 
smaller image of somebody was borrowed 
from the Gray Friars as a substitute for the 
occasion. It was nailed on a fertor, or bier, 
and borne in the usual procession through the 
streets, accompanied by a long array of eccle- 
siastics with the noisiest kind of music. The 
queen-regent followed it part of the way, and, 
out of respect to her, the populace suffered the 
thing to go on. But when she withdrew, their 
contempt took its own way. In changing the 
bearers of thefertor certain persons took places 
among them who carried it very disrespectfully. 
Others, perceiving the image to be fastened in 
its place, took hold of it and pulled it off, and 
broke it to pieces on the pavement, many voices 
exclaiming, " Fy upon you, young St. Giles ! 
your father would have stood four times as 
much." The priests, thinking that violence 
was intended them also, took to their heels, 
each according to his ability, and the solemn 
procession ended in a ridiculous rout amid the 
laughter of the multitude. And so ended the 
tragedy of St. Giles. 

Such transactions could not be confined to 
the godly. Some of their features were too 
attractive to the mischief-loving element of the 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 417 

populace. On the nth of May, 1558, John 
Knox preached in Perth, and dwelt much on 
the unscriptural nature of idolatry. After the 
sermon, when the people were gone away, a 
priest very imprudently, perhaps in bravado, 
uncovered a rich altarpiece in which were fine- 
ly carved images, and prepared to say mass. 
A few people were still lingering about, and 
among them a boy, who called out with a loud 
voice, "This is intolerable, that when God, by 
his word, hath plainly damned idolatry, we shall 
stand and see it used in despite." The priest 
struck him. Whereupon the boy threw a stone, 
which, missing the priest, knocked down and 
broke one of the images. Immediately other 
persons rushed in from the street and com- 
pleted the damage. In a few minutes all the 
apparatus of idolatry was swept away from the 
church. 

That done, the multitude proceeded to the 
monasteries of the Black and Grey Friars, and 
to that of the Carthusians, a very wealthy in- 
stitution, and demolished them. Their gold 
and silver plate and other portable wealth the 
monks were allowed to carry with them ; their 
provisions and furniture were given to the 
poor, but the buildings were razed to the 
ground. 

None of the leading Reformers were en- 
gaged in that affair. Purely an unpremedi- 

27 



41 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

tated outburst of the lower popular feeling, it 
was regretted by the ministers, but encounter- 
ed little or no censure from the general pub- 
lic. It was soon imitated elsewhere, as at 
Cupar in Fife, St. Andrews, Stirling and Lin- 
lithgow ; and the leaders were constrained to 
content themselves with regulating and limit- 
ing what they could not prevent. As a gen- 
eral thing, monasteries were destroyed, while 
churches were spared, but stripped of all ob- 
jects of idolatrous veneration. The ruined 
condition of many large and once beautiful 
churches in Scotland is due chiefly to war and 
natural decay. Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso, Jed- 
burgh and others suffered from the violence of 
English armies in previous invasions, not from 
the Reformers. 1 Others, in the course of ages, 
gradually fell into ruin from neglect, because 
they were no longer needed. After the rev- 
enues which once belonged to them were sus- 
pended or turned to other accounts, there were 
no funds to keep them in repair. When the 
hosts of unnecessary ecclesiastics were dis- 
banded, and where the parish church was large 
enough to accommodate the parish population, 
there was no longer any use for such gigantic 
and expensive piles. Where that was not the 
case, the great church was retained and adapted, 

1 See Veitch, Border History, p. 172, etc., which may be called 
" Henry VIII. 's wooing for his son." 



MARY OF LORRAINE AND THE PEOPLE. 419 

as at Stirling and at Glasgow, to the simpler 
Protestant worship. At St. Andrews the ca- 
thedral, which really was not needed for church 
accommodation, and served only the purposes 
of ecclesiastics whom the people wished to ex- 
pel, was deliberately torn down. It was thought 
best to " destroy the rookery," so as to leave 
no inducement for the rooks to return. There 
were reasons at St. Andrews for exceptional 
completeness. 



CHAPTER V. 

JOHN KNOX. 

SUCH had been the progress of opinion in 
Scotland by the year 1559 that a prudent 
leader had become a national necessity. Had 
the Reformation not been effected by sober- 
minded men in a regular way, a revolution 
must have occurred from the impulse of pop- 
ular indignation, no longer to be restrained. In 
addition to the corruption of the Romish Church 
in Scotland, and the incorrigible immorality of 
its priesthood, their foreign policy had now clear- 
ly shown itself as a scheme for subjecting the 
country to the rule of France. To long suffer- 
ing under religious oppression and falsehood, 
and thirty years of more or less gospel instruc- 
tion and knowledge of the Reformation in oth- 
er countries, was now added the clear demon- 
stration that their priests were traitors to the 
independence of their country for the price of 
support in the enjoyment of their emoluments 
and iniquity. No leader could have carried 
that people with him who did not partake of 

420 



JOHN KNOX. 421 

their spirit ; and that was the spirit of patriot- 
ism as well as of gospel religion. 

John Knox arrived in Scotland on the 2d of 
May, 1559, at the very juncture in- which he 
was needed. The breaking up, next day, of 
the council in Edinburgh, whose action would 
in any case have proved the one thing more 
than endurable, the newly-assumed attitude of 
the regent toward the nation, her reliance upon 
French arms and Scottish ecclesiastics, and the 
outbreak which occurred a few days after at Perth, 
all evinced the premonitory feeling of a nation- 
al crisis and the inflammable state of the public 
mind. Knox, as well as other members of the 
Congregation, was grieved by the public vio- 
lence at Perth. Desirous to see the people re- 
move their own idols in an orderly way, he re- 
garded it as a serious injury to the cause of 
truth that it should be done for them by a mob. 
But all that remained for him or any other at 
that juncture was to regulate the commotion 
by order and limitations. 

It was the design to abolish monasticism, and 
the destruction of the monasteries was there- 
fore perfectly rational. Those structures an- 
swered no purpose but to accommodate monks. 
It was because they were built that monks were 
brought into the country. In the days of St. 
Margaret and her sons monasteries were erect- 
ed, and then monks were brought from abroad, 



422 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

from England and France, to live in them, and 
estates were appropriated to their support. The 
whole thing was, from the first, foreign to Scot- 
land. Monks never had anything to do in 
that country but to live in the houses built for 
them and draw the revenues provided for them. 
When the people of Scotland wished to have 
done with the idle crew, who had also become 
profligate and an injury to public morals, the 
most rational, or at least the most natural, 
course, in their eyes, was to tear down the 
houses whose existence had brought them 
there, and to turn the revenues to better ac- 
count. A perfectly reasonable distinction was 
accordingly made between the monasteries and 
the churches, excepting that in some places ab- 
bey churches had been constructed where they 
were not needed for any other purpose than that 
of monastic or prelatic effect. Those were, in 
one or two cases, put in the same class with 
the monasteries, but upon the whole they were 
spared, though stripped of their idolatrous ob- 
jects of worship. 

The presence of John Knox, who sympa- 
thized with the people far enough to have a 
strong control over them, did much to retain 
them within those bounds. He reached his na- 
tive land, on this occasion, very fully furnished 
with practical knowledge of all the different sys- 
tems of government existing in the Western 



JOHN KNOX. 423 

churches. He had labored about five years in 
the Anglican Church under Edward VI. and 
Mary, and not less than four years had he been 
a resident of Geneva, and a great part of that 
time a pastor there. His residence in Ger- 
many had also brought him into some rela- 
tions to the Lutherans. He had labored in 
co-operation or conflict with all of them. 
When, together with these facts, we take 
his long and severe study, under the Romish 
system, until he was thirty- seven years old, con- 
tinued on a broader ground five years longer 
before he began to preach, and his habit of per- 
sistent study in all circumstances, we shall ad- 
mit that none of the great Reformers of his 
time came to the work with a more complete 
equipment for it than John Knox. 

It had now been resolved by the Lords of 
the Congregation that the full time was come 
to make an effort to relieve the nation from 
its long-endured grievances by abolishing the 
Romish religion and setting up the Reform- 
ed in all places where the people were pre- 
pared for the change. It was apparent that if 
not done in an orderly way and simultaneously, 
it would be attempted in a disorderly and scat- 
tered way. The regent had declared her pur- 
pose to drive the Reformed preachers out of the 
land, and was actually then employing French 
forces, and forces in French pay, to defeat their 



424 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

cause, and had ceased to observe any regard to 
truth in her dealings with them. Nor were the 
Lords ignorant of the design to reduce Scotland 
to the condition of a dependency of France. 
Lord James Stewart and Erskine of Dun had 
been members of the delegation to Paris on the 
occasion of the queen's marriage. They were 
fully impressed with the conviction that stronger 
force would soon be brought against them from 
abroad, and that no time was likely to be more 
favorable for their purpose than the present. 
It was also resolved that the seat of the pri- 
macy was the right place to begin. 

The earl of Argyll and Lord James Stewart 
(who was the prior of St. Andrews), after their 
final separation from the regent on the ist of 
June, 1559, repaired at once to St. Andrews, 
giving notice by writing to Erskine of Dun, and 
other Protestant leaders of the neighborhood, 
to meet them at that city on the 4th. They ob- 
served the appointment, and with them brought 
John Knox, who went on farther south to preach 
at Crail and Anstruther, and returned to St. 
Andrews on the 9th. 

The Lords had assembled only a small body 
of followers, and still knew nothing about the 
disposition of the citizens. Archbishop Ham- 
ilton, hearing that the Reformer was expected 
to preach in his cathedral city next day, arrived 
in great haste with a body of soldiers, and after 



JOHN KNOX. 425 

consultation held with some of his clergy, sent 
a messenger to say to the Lords that if John 
Knox should present himself in the pulpit of 
the cathedral, he would order the military to 
fire on him. 

The Lords were alarmed. The life of such 
a man must not be rashly exposed. Among 
themselves they deemed it best to postpone 
the preaching until their own force should be 
more numerous or circumstances more favor- 
able. Knox, when the proposal was made to 
him, thought otherwise. He had come there to 
preach the gospel ; he had no intention to preach 
"in contempt of any man nor with the design of 
hurting any earthly creature ; but to delay to 
preach on the morrow (unless forcibly hindered) 
he could not in conscience agree." " My life," 
said he, " is in the custody of Him whose glory 
I seek, and therefore I cannot so fear their boast 
nor tyranny that I will cease from doing my du- 
ty, when God of his mercy offereth the occasion. 
I desire the hand nor weapon of no man to de- 
fend me. I only crave audience ; which if it be 
denied here unto me at this time, I must seek 
farther where I may have it." In short, his res- 
olution was that, though actual force might pre- 
vent him, threats should not. 

Accordingly, next day, Sunday, the 10th of 
June, 1559, John Knox preached in the great 
church of St. Andrews before a large assembly 



426 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

of all classes of people, lay and ecclesiastical. 
The military did not fire, nor was any other dis- 
turbance offered. His text was the Lord's ex- 
pulsion of profane traffic from the temple at 
Jerusalem. Twelve years before, in that same 
city, he had publicly proved that the Jewish re- 
ligion in the time of Christ was not more cor- 
rupt than the Romish Church was in the six- 
teenth century. He now took up the theme at 
that point, and showed that, after the example 
of the Lord, it was the duty of those to whom 
God had given the power, especially the magis- 
trates, to cleanse the Church by removing " all 
monuments of idolatry." 

A deep impression was produced upon the 
the audience, which continued to increase under 
the preaching of the three following days ; and 
on the 14th of June the magistrates, with entire 
consent of the inhabitants, peacefully removed 
from their churches all objects of idolatrous 
veneration. They also destroyed the monas- 
teries and set up the Reformed religion. 

Intelligence of these events, sent by the arch- 
bishop to the regent, who was with her French 
troops at Falkland, about twelve miles off, led 
to the meeting at Cupar Moor already men- 
tioned. Under the truce, there formed, the re- 
gent retired to Stirling. In a few days, the 
Lords were apprised of her intention to fortify 
the passage of the Forth at Stirling, and cut 



JOHN KNOX. 427 

them off from connection with the Reformers 
of the south. To prevent that, they hastened 
to Perth, drove out the garrison which she had 
put there in violation of her solemn promise, 
then turned on that rapid march whereby they 
took Stirling and every other place on their 
way, until they entered Edinburgh. Knox was 
with them all the way, and preached in the 
church of St. Giles on the day of their arri- 
val. When at Perth he had used his utmost 
effort to save the abbey of Scone, where the 
bishop of Murray was then residing. But it 
was burned to the ground by the multitude, in 
spite of all. The reason of that public persist- 
ence, perhaps not known to every one, express- 
ed quietly by a woman in the hearing of some 
of those who were laboring to allay it, was per- 
fectly sufficient. 

On the 7th of July, 1559, the citizens of Ed- 
inburgh, in a public meeting in the Tolbooth, 
chose John Knox as their minister. That ac- 
tion being approved by his brethren, he accept- 
ed the charge, and continued in its duties until 
the Lords returned to Stirling with the Re- 
formed forces. John Willock then took his 
place, while he spent the next two months on 
a preaching-tour. In that time he visited the 
country south of Edinburgh as far as Kelso 
and Jedburgh, proceeded westward to Dum- 
fries, then into Ayrshire, and through the 



428 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

west country round to Stirling, thence north- 
ward as far as Brechin and Montrose, and 
back to Dundee and St. Andrews. That jour- 
ney was a band of fraternal sympathy thrown 
around the Lowlands, not to the creation of ex- 
citement, but of a sober confidence, promoting 
the orderly and quiet progress of the revolu- 
tion in hand. That progress, although in most 
places so peaceful as to attract no outward 
notice, was very rapid. In little more than 
three months from Knox's first sermon at 
Perth, already eight principal towns were pro- 
vided with Reformed pastors, while others 
were vacant only because of the fewness of 
preachers. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE FRENCH INVASION. 

THE queen-regent had latterly put forth all 
the powers conferred upon her by Parlia- 
ment to subvert the national independence. 
Foreign arms, under her command, were em- 
ployed to enforce upon Scotland a foreign pol- 
icy. From early in her term of office her influ- 
ence and dignity had been sustained by the 
presence of a small body of French troops. 
As the scheme of making Scotland subserv- 
ient to French designs upon England took 
shape, the number was increased by such 
small additions as seem to have attracted 
little attention. Some Scots were also en- 
listed on French pay. About the time when 
the conflict with the Reformers began, in 
May, 1559, the regular foreign force must 
have amounted to three thousand men. They 
were under command of M. d'Oysell, a parti- 
san of the duke of Guise. At first, the regent 
could also, upon emergency, call together four 
or five thousand from the native population. 
The progress of events, however, soon alien- 

429 



430 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

ated that element, and latterly her dependence 
rested entirely upon the French. Increased by 
successive reinforcements, they took possession 
of Leith and fortified it, as their gate to and from 
the sea. One thousand more were added to 
their number at that time, the first detach- 
ment of an army which was expected soon to 
follow. 

Courage and capacity for military training 
were not lacking to the Scottish people, any 
more than in earlier days, but their resources 
had been drained by long-continued and heavy 
exactions. They were reduced to poverty. A 
few weeks in the field exhausted their means, 
and they could not endure taxation for support 
of a standing army. A small, well-trained reg- 
ular force, in possession of a fortified port in 
communication with abundant supplies by sea, 
had great advantage over them. 

On returning from Dunbar, the queen-regent 
made her head-quarters at Leith. Advancing 
thence to Edinburgh, she was encountered by 
the Reformers. A truce was agreed upon be- 
tween them, to last until the ioth of January 
next. Among its conditions the queen was to 
occupy Edinburgh, while the Protestants in the 
city were to enjoy the freedom of their wor- 
ship, as then observed. The Lords accordingly 
left Edinburgh on the 26th of July, 1559, and 
retired in the direction of Stirling. John Wil- 



THE FRENCH INVASION. 43 I 

lock remained as minister of St. Giles, and Knox 
went on his tour of visitation. 

The Lords could not fail to consider the in- 
crease of French troops and the continued 
work on the fortifications of Leith violations 
of the truce. French soldiers were also em- 
ployed to interrupt or to disturb the Protestant 
worship in Edinburgh, so that often the preach- 
er could not be heard by the congregation. 
Remonstrance was made with the queen in 
reference to these things. She replied by 
sending two messengers, who had nothing to 
propose except that " if things were submit- 
ted to the queen's will she would be gracious 
enough." By proclamation she also attempted 
to justify the increase of French troops, and 
by private means to create division among the 
Lords. Within the same time a group of French 
ecclesiastics arrived, consisting of Pelleve, bish- 
op of Amiens, with three doctors of the Sor- 
bonne. Le Broche, a French knight, accom- 
panied them with two thousand infantry. They 
professed to have come to dispute with the Prot- 
estant preachers. But as they never really 
sought an occasion of debate, it is more prob- 
able that their mission had a view to reviving- 
and strengthening the Romish interest in Scot- 
land by some other persuasions, which they nev- 
er had a chance to exercise. 

In reply to the queen's proclamation the Lords 



43 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

issued a statement, in which they again protest- 
ed against the continued increase of foreign 
troops, and the occupation of the best harbor 
in the neighborhood of Edinburgh for the pur- 
pose of a foreign power, which could serve no 
other end to Scotland than the ruin of her in- 
dependence. Having issued that declaration, 
they returned to Edinburgh, and took posses- 
sion of it on the 18th of October. They had 
meanwhile been strengthened by the accession 
of the earl of Arran, who, having escaped from 
the court of France with more knowledge of 
its designs than was consistent with his safety 
there, found his way home through England. 
As soon as he arrived he persuaded his father, 
the duke of Chatelherault, to join the Reform- 
ers. 

On the same day on which the Lords re- 
entered Edinburgh the regent took refuge in 
Leith, followed by the archbishops of St. An- 
drews and of Glasgow and other Romish eccle- 
siastics. The conflict had now clearly decided 
itself to be between the Scottish people and the 
Reformation on one side, and the ambition of 
the Guises, sustained by French arms and Rom- 
ish ecclesiastics, with the regent at their head, 
on the other. 

The demand of the people was freedom in 
the observance of their religion and the dismiss- 
al of the French. On the other side, subordi- 



THE FRENCH INVASION. 433 

nation to the policy dictated from France, and 
compliance with the religion of Rome were the 
objects in view. 

On the day after they re-entered Edinburgh 
the Lords sent a message informing the regent 
that they were convened to redress the disor- 
ders in the nation, and especially to relieve the 
port of Leith, that it should be free for its prop- 
er use in the national traffic, and desiring her 
to dismiss all foreigners and mercenary soldiers 
then obstructing it, and to demolish the forts 
erected by them ; otherwise they should take 
it to be her intention to bring the kingdom 
into servitude, against which evil they must 
provide in the best way they could. The an- 
swer came by the Lion herald king-at-arms, 
and, as was to be expected, conceded nothing. 
It closed with ordering them all to depart from 
Edinburgh, under the penalties of treason if 
they disobeyed. 

The herald was detained a few days while 
the Lords took counsel with a number of the 
barons and burgesses as to what course they 
should next pursue. The king and queen were 
still minors in a foreign land, and in the hands 
of the very persons creating these national trou- 
bles. A regular Parliament could not meet in 
the circumstances, but the imminent danger of 
the country called for some action on the part 
of its natural representatives. To human eye 

28 



434 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

that danger never was greater, not even under 
the aggressions of Edward I. If less violent, it 
seemed to be more complete in the strong links 
of its chain of causes. 

A numerous assembly of nobles, barons and 
representatives of boroughs met in Edinburgh 
to consider the state of the country, and the 
proposition laid before them was the expedi- 
ency of deposing the regent. Already had the 
regency been transferred by the authorities of 
the nation ; might it not be transferred again ? 
Could any case more urgently demand it? 
There was a difference of opinion. After dis- 
cussion had proceeded to some length, the two 
ministers, Willock and Knox, were called on 
for their advice. When they closed, the assem- 
bly resolved unanimously, in the name of the 
absent king and queen, to suspend the commis- 
sion granted to the queen- regent until the next 
Parliament that should be called by the royal 
advice and consent. Proclamation to that effect 
was made by sound of trumpet, and information 
sent to the queen-dowager by her returning her- 
ald on the 23d of October. 

Next day the Lords summoned Leith to sur- 
render. But their operations before it were 
unsuccessful. On the 5th of November they 
were repulsed, and their troops so disheart- 
ened that on the following night they left Ed- 
inburgh and retreated to Stirling, which they 



THE FRENCH INVASION. 435 

reached on the evening of the next day. But 
they carried with them two men who proved the 
safety of their enterprise. William Maitland 
of Lethington, offended and endangered by the 
policy which ruled in the regent's court, escaped 
from Leith and joined the Lords in the midst of 
their disasters. And on the morning after their 
arrival at Stirling, Wednesday, the 7th of No- 
vember, John Knox preached before the de- 
feated and despondent forces. His text was 
from the eightieth Psalm, the fourth to the 
eighth verses inclusive, and the sermon had 
a wonderful effect to lift up the hearts of his 
hearers, to confirm their faith and encourage 
them to further effort and hope of success. In 
the afternoon of the same day the Lords held a 
meeting, at which they invited Knox to be pres- 
ent, and agreed to send Maitland to London to 
lay their case before Elizabeth, believing that so 
eminent a ruler could not fail to perceive the 
danger to herself in a French occupation of 
Scotland. As the strength of aggression was 
the Romish religion, the most obvious method 
of resistance was to combine the Reformers. 
Such an alliance had occurred long before to 
both Scots and English, and might have been 
effected sooner but for the obstinate animosity 
of Elizabeth toward Knox, who with Balnavis 
had hitherto managed negotiations on the side 
of Scotland. Until the results of the new em- 



43 6 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

bassy should appear, and during the depth of 
winter, the Congregation dispersed, while one- 
half of the council were to reside in Glasgow 
and the other in St. Andrews. With the former 
Balnavis, and with the latter Knox, were to re- 
main and act as secretaries, to maintain con- 
stant communication between them. With 
Knox it proved a period of great intellect- 
ual labor, in constant preaching, correspond- 
ence and otherwise. 

As soon as the retreat of the Lords was 
known at Leith, the French took possession 
of Edinburgh, except the castle, which was 
still held by Lord Erskine. More troops were 
sent for, to make their victory complete. A 
French expedition sailed from Dieppe, but was 
encountered by a storm at sea. Part of it was 
driven back to France, and the rest cast away 
on the shores of Holland. Subsequently, the 
marquis D'Elbeuf succeeded in reaching Leith 
with a thousand infantry and some cavalry. 

Toward the end of December news came 
from England favorable to the Reformed 
cause. It was soon known also to the 
French, who forthwith hastened to make an 
end of the war before the English could in- 
terfere. Marching upon Linlithgow and Stir- 
ling, and then to Fife, where the Protestants 
were strong, they must have been disappointed 
to find no army there. All they could do was 



THE FRENCH INVASION. 437 

to burn and destroy. Only on the coast of 
Fife were they harassed in their camp and on 
the march by the companies organized under 
Lord James Stewart and some of the local gen- 
tlemen. On the 23d of January, 1560, when 
on their march to St. Andrews, from the high 
ground looking south-eastward they espied a 
fleet sailing into sight up the Forth. They re- 
joiced, for the first thought was that it must be 
the expected reinforcement from France. But 
in a short time, from a boat which landed near 
them, they learned that it was an English squad- 
ron in aid of the Reformers. It now became 
necessary for them to hasten back to Leith with 
all expedition. A detachment which went out 
to Glasgow was also recalled. The English 
ships took up their position before Leith, block- 
aded the harbor and cut off all communication 
by sea. 

A treaty between the queen of England and 
the duke of Chatelherault, as head of those rep- 
resenting the native government of Scotland, 
was signed at Berwick, February 27, 1560. 
The English army, consisting of six thousand 
infantry and two thousand cavalry, under Lord 
Grey of Wilton, set forth immediately and join- 
ed the reassembled forces of the Lords at Pres- 
ton, about eight miles from Edinburgh, on the 
4th of April. The French shut themselves up 
within their fortifications, which were now in- 



43 8 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

vested by land and sea. At the same time the 
regent, in impaired health, was received into the 
castle of Edinburgh by Lord Erskine, who, al- 
though a Protestant, still maintained his singu- 
lar neutrality. The siege of Leith continued 
from April 5 three months. On the 10th of 
June the queen-regent died. 

Meanwhile, the princes of Lorraine were 
losing their absolute control of public affairs 
in France. Among the nobility a party was 
formed against them, to defeat their dangerous 
ambition and protect French Protestants. Un- 
der that pressure, the cabinet sent delegates to 
Edinburgh to make peace with England. The 
treaty agreed upon by the representatives of 
the three nations was signed on the 7th of July, 
and on the 1 6th the French embarked at Leith, 
and the English commenced their march to the 
south, and on the 19th the Lords of the Con- 
gregation, with their followers, assembled in the 
church of St. Giles to render thanks to God for 
the restoration of peace. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE VICTORY. 

SCOTLAND was now relieved from foreign 
interference. The question of religion re- 
mained to be settled, but the order of events 
had prejudged it. The Protestants had trans- 
acted the business for the national protection. 
Their cause had identified itself with the na- 
tional independence. For their cause had the 
victory been won, and, now that the foreigners 
were gone, in their hands had the national au- 
thority been left. The Roman Catholics had 
reposed their hope upon the French, and were 
now helpless and without position. The Prot- 
estants were also the most powerful in rank 
and number. Most of the nobility, barons and 
gentlemen and the great mass of the commons 
were on their side. In numbers the Catholics 
were not so feeble as they seemed, but the un- 
national policy of their leaders, long persisted 
in, and finally so completely exposed and defeat- 
ed, had for the time utterly prostrated their in- 
fluence. Upon the whole, except where it had 
been enforced by the regent, the services of 

439 



44° THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

their religion were almost deserted. Priests of 
their own accord ceased to celebrate the rites 
which few or none attended. The people, now 
free to follow their choice, peacefully set up the 
Reformed worship, wherever there were minis- 
ters to conduct it. 

In the treaty of Edinburgh it was stipulated 
that a Scottish Parliament should be held in the 
month of August following-. Notice was ac- 
cordingly given to all persons entitled to a seat 
in the national council. Many of the members 
came together before the appointed day. Dur- 
ing the interval a meeting of the commissioners 
of boroughs, with some of the nobility and bar- 
ons, undertook to assign the Reformed ministers 
to places of regular preaching and pastoral la- 
bor, Knox being appointed to Edinburgh, Good- 
man to St. Andrews, Heriot to Aberdeen, Row 
to Perth, Methven to Jedburgh, Christison to 
Dundee, Ferguson to Dunfermline, and Lind- 
say to Leith. As for many places no ministers 
could be provided, certain persons were select- 
ed to read the Scriptures before assemblies of 
the people, and such as were deemed compe- 
tent were encouraged to offer practical remarks 
on what they read. Over such districts, where 
no better provision could then be made, some 
well-known and fully competent men were set 
as superintendents to preside, and travel from 
parish to parish and see to their order and spir- 



THE VICTORY. 44 1 

itual interests. Not over all the kingdom were 
superintendents set, but only where they were 
needed — only over the five districts of Lothian, 
Fife, Glasgow, Angus and Mearns, and Argyll 
and the islands. The device was only tem- 
porary, and continued no longer than until the 
number of ministers increased sufficiently to 
complete the permanent design. 

On the i st of August, 1560, an unusually 
lar^e attendance on Parliament assembled in 
Edinburgh. What had formerly been shunned 
by many as a burdensome and expensive task 
was on this occasion eagerly claimed as a privi- 
lege. Most of the higher clergy, the nobility, 
the barons and representatives of boroughs 
were present. Knox was not a member, but 
was at hand, with some other Reformed minis- 
ters, to aid in such manner as Parliament might 
require. During the time of the meeting he 
continued to preach on the prophecies of Hag- 
gai, with application to the times. 

First among the articles of business brought 
before Parliament was the petition of the bar- 
ons, gentlemen, burgesses and other subjects 
of the realm concerning religion — first, that 
"the doctrine of the Roman Church, profess- 
ed and tyrannously maintained by the clergy, 
should be condemned, and by act of Parlia- 
ment abolished." Some of its doctrines and 
practices they represented as " pestilent errors, 



44 2 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

which could not but bring damnation upon souls 
therewith affected." They desired, therefore, a 
punishment to be appointed for the teachers 
of such doctrines. Secondly, that "a remedy 
should be found against the profaning of the 
holy sacraments by men of that profession, and 
the true discipline of the ancient Church revived 
and restored ;" and thirdly, that " the usurped 
authority of the pope of Rome be discharged, 
and the patrimony of the Church employed to 
the sustentation of the ministry, the provision 
of schools and entertainment of the poor, of a 
long time neglected." 

Before taking up the discussion of these top- 
ics Parliament requested the ministers to pre- 
pare a statement of the doctrines which they 
proposed to substitute. That was promptly 
done, and the first Confession of the Scottish 
Reformed Church was laid before Parliament. 
It consisted of twenty-five sections, covering the 
main heads of theology, church government, re- 
lations of the Church to the State, and the duty 
of the latter to maintain the former and to be 
conformable to its doctrine. It was read before 
the Lords of the Articles, and with their approv- 
al read before Parliament. It was then laid over 
several days, that the members might have time 
to give it deliberate consideration. On the 1 7th 
of August it was again taken up, and read for 
discussion and vote, article by article. Only 



THE VICTORY. 443 

three persons of the temporal estate voted in 
the negative — the earl of Athole and the Lords 
Somerville and Borthwick, whose only reason 
given for so doing was, " We will believe as 
our fathers believed." 

Some of the ecclesiastics voted with the Re- 
formers. When the revolution had secured vic- 
tory on its side, men like Winram of St. An- 
drews were emboldened to speak their minds 
openly. The bishops of Galloway and Argyll 
had already joined the evangelical connection. 
The primate and most of the bishops opposed 
the Confession, but made no defence of their 
ground. They knew that if they ventured on 
debate they would be overwhelmed with argu- 
ment from the other side, and that, however the 
merits of their cause might be presented, they 
were sure to be outvoted. Already they had 
ceased to hope for victory by that means. 
Moreover, they still cherished the probability 
that France would recover her hold of the 
country. Francis and Mary had not yet rati- 
fied the treaty, nor was it likely they ever 
would, especially as it contained an article 
whereby they were to be bound not to as- 
sume the title or emblazonry of England. 
That the claim of Mary Stuart upon such a 
throne would be so tamely surrendered was 
exceedingly improbable. But the grand design 
upon England required the possession of Scot- 



444 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

land as an important preliminary. France would 
certainly send another army, and a stronger, and 
England might not be ready to come north again 
with an adequate force. The present triumph 
of the Reformers could only be temporary. In 
a short time it must certainly fall before the 
vengeance of outraged royalty and the supe- 
rior prowess of France. It was perfectly ra- 
tional so to think at that time, but History, in 
her subsequent complications, reasoned in an- 
other way. 

Parliament recognized the Confession as truly 
stating scriptural doctrine, and so accepted it as 
the faith of the Church of Scotland. Acts were 
also passed abolishing the dominion of the pope 
within the kingdom, annulling all statutes of ear- 
lier time " for maintenance of idolatry," prohib- 
iting the saying of mass, and enacting punish- 
ment for those who should persist in it. 

These acts of Parliament were sent to France 
for ratification by the king and queen. But the 
commmissioner, Sir James Sandilands, Lord St. 
John, was coldly received, treated with indignity, 
and ratification was not granted. The acts, how- 
ever, went into force as laws by popular choice, 
for they expressed a previously determinate pur- 
pose of the people, which had become actual be- 
fore they were passed. 

After the dissolution of Parliament a commit- 
tee of ministers was formed to prepare a Book 



THE VICTORY. 445 

of Discipline. The work was soon completed 
and presented to the nobility. But it was found 
too severe for most of them, and never received 
more than a partial approval. 

Meanwhile, the Catholic leaders in Scotland 
were plotting another invasion from France. 
The archbishop of Glasgow, the abbot of 
Dunfermline and Lord Seaton were already in 
Paris for that purpose. The plan to overthrow 
the Guise domination in France had been dis- 
covered, and the conspirators were suffering in 
multitudes beneath the merciless vengeance of 
their enemies. When that impediment should 
be out of the way it was counted on that the 
. energies of France could be concentrated upon 
the great enterprise in Britain. But just at this 
crisis, and while many of the victims were still 
awaiting- execution, King- Francis died. 

The link was broken which connected the ad- 
ministration of government with the family of 
Guise. Another son of Catherine de Medici 
ascended the throne, to whom that family had 
no relations. Catherine, who never loved the 
princes of Lorraine, or their niece, was relieved 
from the necessity of being secondary to their 
ambition. Her power was still a compromise 
with theirs, but their niece's claim to the thrones 
of Scotland and England was now nothing to 
her and her sons, save a probability to be dep- 
recated. Nor had the princes of Lorraine any 



446 THE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

longer a family interest in aggrandizing the 
throne of France as held by the house of Va- 
lois. The designs upon Scotland from that quar- 
ter came to end. Their motive was extinct. 
Such stupendous interests, so deeply affecting 
three kingdoms, rested on the life or death of 
a feeble boy. Francis II. died on the 15th of 
December, 1560, and the burden of anxiety was 
lifted from the heart of Scotland. 

About the same time a number of the Re- 
formed ministers and leading laymen agreed to 
meet together, and " consult upon those things 
which were to forward God's glory and the weil 
of his Kirk in this realm." They met on the 
20th of December, 1560. Simple and rudi- 
mentary in its structure as it was, that meeting 
represented the existence and purpose of an 
already practically established Church, which 
recognized it, and has ever since, when un- 
hindered by violence, maintained its succes- 
sion, as the first Assembly of the Reformed 
Church of Scotland. 

Whatever importance may attach to it in the 
order of cause and effect, it is at least worthy 
of remark that the strength of the Scottish Re- 
form movement appeared in those parts of the 
country which in earlier ages had been the spe- 
cial scenes of the evangelical work of Ninian, 
of Kentigern, of Columba, and of their respec- 
tive followers, and where Palladius found be- 



THE VICTORY. 447 

lievers in Christ. Though much of the inter- 
vening time is dark — worse than dark, covered 
with deceitful clouds of fable — with such a his- 
tory before its beginning, and unveiling itself 
at the end, one cannot resist the obtruding con- 
jecture that fond hankerings after the earlier 
faith had survived through all the obscurity, as 
one slumbers in the night, and awakened again 
to activity in the warmth and light of the liber- 
ated gospel. Nations have memories — hered- 
itary memories — amazingly long, holding on, 
dreamily it may be, for centuries, but sure 
to come to consciousness when a proper oc- 
casion arrives. 



THE END. 



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